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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120249">Waterdeep: Dragon Heist – Side Reese</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaphaelComet/pseuds/RaphaelComet'>RaphaelComet</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>D&amp;D: Forgotten Realms [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dungeons &amp; Dragons (Roleplaying Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>5e, Detective, Evergreen Tavern, F/M, Faerûn, Forgotten Realms - Freeform, Waterdeep</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 08:55:50</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>66,446</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120249</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RaphaelComet/pseuds/RaphaelComet</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s just another day on the job for Detective Reese Barkhorn, but upon hearing the news about the death of his beloved one, everything changed. Reese took it upon himself to find out what happened to his lover and how she died, going all over Waterdeep to find the answers he seeks. It isn’t his obligation as a Waterdeep detective that drives him, no, but his drive for vengeance to find the one responsible and make them pay. Little does he know, things go deeper than he expects as he is plunged into the criminal underworld of the city, fighting alongside a rag-tag group of adventurers as they seek to unravel the mystery.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Reese &amp; Kailani, Reese Barkhorn/Kazuhara Kobayashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>D&amp;D: Forgotten Realms [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819465</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Facts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A story chronicling the second half of my second completed D&amp;D campaign as told from the perspective of the second character I played, Reese Barkhorn. The DM was a friend of mine (Colten) and along with myself, there were three other main players (Nichole, Eric, and Tanner). The story takes place in the Forgotten Realms.</p><p>Below shows whose characters belonged to who:<br/><b>Myself</b>: Reese<br/><b>Eric</b>: Kailani<br/><b>Nichole</b>: Jerky<br/><b>Tanner</b>: Arthur</p><p>This is the continuation of “<i>Waterdeep: Dragon Heist – Side Kaz</i>” and finishes up where that story left off.</p><p>Chapter 14 serves as the epilogue for this story and was written after the campaign concluded.</p><p>Reposted from my FanFiction page:</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I couldn’t believe it when I first heard the news, but after hearing it again, I felt a part of me die that day.</p><p>I happened to be in the City Watch headquarters when I overheard someone talking about a recent disturbance in the North Ward. They mentioned a high-profile case regarding a massacre at Gralhund Villa, a property owned by the Gralhund family. At first, I wasn’t paying much attention to the details, but after recognizing <em>her</em> name, I immediately stopped what I was doing and asked them about it. They told me that there was a battle and several people were found dead at the villa including a female Kitsune by the name of Kaz. As soon as I heard that name and description, my heart sank. I could barely stand as the two watchmen just looked at me with confused expressions. I told them to give me a second as I tried to regain my composure. There weren’t many Kitsunes in town, especially ones who went by that name, so it had to be my darling. But how could it? She wasn’t the kind of girl to go messing around with the wrong people and she wasn’t the adventurous type. It had to be some sort of foul play and she was probably just an innocent bystander caught in the middle of it all. What in the world was she doing there? How did she die? There were so many questions I had to find the answers to and I couldn’t rest until I had them. I needed to know what happened to my love.</p><p>After doing some digging around the station, I began to piece together what had happened. I found out that Lord and Lady Gralhund had been apprehended for interrogation and were currently being held in custody. In addition to them, Lady Gralhund’s personal bodyguard, a half-orc by the name of Hrabbaz, and two other guards were also being detained for questioning. During their interrogations, they were all rather uncooperative and what little they did say was eventually found to be false. I wasn’t able to directly access the detainees and ask them questions myself, but I did manage to get a hold of the reports outlining the initial round of interrogation as well as the investigation of the incident at the manor. I gathered everything I could and poured over it all, making sure not to miss a single detail.</p><p>Upon being apprehended, the Gralhunds gave their testimony to the authorities which upon closer inspection, was found to be full of lies and inconsistencies. They claimed that they were being held captive by known criminal and Zhentarim affiliate, Urstul Floxin, and his men. They were unable to escape until they were eventually rescued by unknown means. With the amount of guards they had, I was immediately skeptical of their story. They basically had a small army at their beckoning and couldn’t surely have all been bested by Floxin and a few of his gang members. The City Watch had similar sentiments, and after finding more evidence at the scene, they deemed their story to be deceitful and untruthful.</p><p>At the villa, the City Watch investigators uncovered many things that the Gralhunds would’ve rather had been left alone. Their discoveries led them to believe that the Gralhunds were actually cultists and had connections to Floxin and the rest of the Zhentarim. Inside the main house, they found a room that had been specifically set aside as a private living quarters for Floxin. They came to the conclusion that they were sheltering him there until he decided to turn against them for some reason. In addition to that, they found several sets of cultist robes, occult items, and a non-functioning teleportation circle that the on-site investigators couldn’t find the destination to. They were also aware of the groundskeeper, Hurv, and his demon mastiffs being able to transform into shades at night which didn’t help the Gralhund’s position. As well as all the evidence uncovered at the scene of the crime, specialists were also able to interrogate Floxin’s himself.</p><p>Using special magic, they were able to question Floxin’s dead corpse and found out more incriminating evidence against the Gralhunds. They discovered that Floxin was hired by Lady Gralhund to follow a certain gnome and recover an item from him. That revelation put Floxin at the scene of the crime during the Fireball Incident near the Evergreen Tavern. After the fireball killed the gnome along with several innocent bystanders, Floxin went in and retrieved the item before retreating back to Gralhund Villa.</p><p>After further investigation, there was evidence to show that the Gralhunds were connected to the rogue Nimblewright running loose around town. Lady Gralhund claimed that the fireball necklace used during the Fireball Incident was stolen from her by the Nimblewright, but it was heavily speculated that she in fact gave the necklace to the Nimblewright to use in the attack. There were also reports from bystanders that shed some light on the issue. They said that they may have seen something resembling the Nimblewright entering and leaving the villa by climbing over a wall. Upon closer inspection of the area, there were signs that something had climbed over a nearby wall right before the random group of civilians stormed the residence.</p><p>Some of the last reports I read dealt with this mysterious group found dead along with several Gralhund guards and Zhentarim members. They didn’t appear to be part of either side and their presence at the scene was a puzzling. Among the dead included a cat-person named M’naggo, his pet familiar named Benji, a lizardman named Gix, and a Kitsune named Kaz. After reading about Kaz, it was hard to focus, but I had to continue on in order to find out what happened to her. She deserved to have her story known and I was going to make sure she was properly remembered and avenged. As I continued to read the report, it mentioned two other associates of theirs: Arthur and Magdove. The halfling named Magdove apparently was gravely injured during the fight and the halfling named Arthur had left to try and save her. She did not make it and he was left as the sole survivor of the group. Four of them were the recent new owners of Trollskull Manor which was renamed to the Evergreen Tavern by them. After investigating the legal documents, only Gix, M’naggo, Magdove, and Arthur were listed as the actual owners; Kaz’s name was not present meaning she wasn’t a co-owner. I knew Kaz was no longer working at the Artistic Armory but I wasn’t aware of her association with the tavern and its owners. Continuing on, I read that the possessions of the dead Evergreen group were being held as evidence which I wasn’t allowed access to yet. Kaz’s rapier wasn’t listed as among the things recovered so I had to find out what happened to it. If the Gralhunds had anything to do with the missing sword, I was going to be very disappointed. That sword was too special to be wielded by anyone else except her and me.</p><p>After familiarizing myself with the case the best I could, I decided to do some investigation of my own since I couldn’t access the Gralhunds or the recovered evidence. They had to pay if they were somehow involved and I had to know exactly what happened to my love. While I was roaming around the North Ward, I found out that the remaining owner of the Evergreen Tavern, Arthur, was going to hold a funeral pyre for his deceased friends that evening. I wanted to talk with him and grill him for everything he knew, but I decided to wait until after the funeral.</p><p>When it got dark out and the funeral began to take place, I just remained part of the crowd, not letting my association with Kaz be publicly known. I didn’t want my relationship with her to be misconstrued by my superiors, thinking I was letting my personal feelings get in the way of my investigation. It hurt to see her body all cleaned up and dressed in funeral attire, lying peacefully on a bed of sticks and wood next to her dead compatriots. If only I was able to see her face one last time before she turned to ash. After a few words were said, those closest to the deceased stepped forward and set their pyres ablaze. One of Kaz’s friends, a bar maiden named Bonnie, did the honor of lighting Kaz’s pyre. As I watched her body begin catch fire, I could barely hold back my tears as I stood there. After the fire grew to an immense size, I took my leave and went home, unable to contain my broken heart.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. On the Hunt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day, I decided to head to the Evergreen Tavern to have a talk with this Arthur character. As I was about to head inside, I ran into a familiar face. Her name was Kailani and was apparently put in charge of the Gralhund Villa Massacre case. We knew each other from our early days in the City Watch and joined around the same time, going through training and graduating together. After briefly catching up, we decided to turn our attention to the tavern in front of us.</p><p>The door wasn’t locked but the tavern didn’t seem to be in operation. There was no one inside, at least, as far as we could tell from outside. We carefully made our way inside and looked around. I heard some loud snoring and decided to find the source. Kailani followed behind me as we headed into the kitchen. There, we found a halfling, whom we assumed was Arthur, lying on the ground surrounded by empty wine bottles and portions of food like half-eaten bread and a wheel of cheese. He was dressed in an odd outfit and appeared to be knocked out cold. Kailani and I exchanged confused looks so I kicked his foot to try and wake him up.</p><p>Eventually, Arthur came to and was startled by our sudden appearance. He reached for an empty bottle and shattered it in half, threatening us with what remained as a makeshift weapon. He appeared to be hung-over and in a rough state, but considering he just put his friends to rest the night before, it kind of made sense. I wasn’t worried in the slightest so I let Kailani handle the situation. After calming him down, we moved to a table in the main tavern area and sat down to talk. Kailani led the interrogation while I sat back and listened in on them. She was officially in charge of the investigation, so I did my best not to get in the way and let my personal feelings interfere.</p><p>At the end of their talk, Arthur mentioned that his friends’ belongings that were not claimed by a next of kin were placed in crates and left in storage. Hoping that Kaz’s things hadn’t been taken yet, I urged him to show me where it was. Arthur obliged and led Kailani and I up to where the crates were being kept. On the way upstairs, we encountered a couple of the staff there to include a female half-orc and female human. When we got to where the crates were being stored, Kailani decided to rummage through M’naggo’s things while I stood in front of Kaz’s. It seemed like everything was still there and I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw a sheathed rapier among her belongings. The first thing I did was reach out and take her sword in hand, instantly recognizing it as all the memories of her and I dueling rushed into my head. It was hard to stand as I braced myself on the crate with my hand, leaning on it as I struggled to get a hold of myself. Once I had calmed down, I set the sword aside and continued to sift through her things.</p><p>I found a curious letter from the Harpers that asked if Kaz wanted to join their organization. I was familiar with them but since they were so covert in their actions and existence, I didn’t know much. I wondered if Kaz had somehow gotten involved with them. If that was the case, was it what led to her death? I wasn’t sure. I took the letter and pocketed it so I could look into it further later. As I looked back to the contents of the crate, I spotted one of the shirts she used to wear. I recognized it from when she used to disguise herself and go to the dueling club. Making sure no one was watching me, I took the shirt and inhaled deeply as I brought it to my nose. I could still smell a bit of her natural scent which reminded me dearly of her. I missed her so much and almost got emotional again. Getting a hold of myself, I placed the shirt back into the crate and continued investigating. I didn’t find much and Arthur told me he took the money she had and applied it to the tavern’s costs. I took her sword and attached it to my belt, letting hang on my right side with my sword still on the left. After I was done, I told Arthur to leave the rest of her things there and to not let anyone else take them. Once we had finished up there, we decided to head back down to the tavern.</p><p>When we got back into the tavern below, we sat back down at a table to continue talking. Just as we got there, an odd individual entered through the front door. She was a gnome and introduced herself as Jerky Spices. At first, I didn’t pay her any attention and thought she was just another staff person, but then she began to talk about some very curious things. She seemed to know Arthur really well and was very familiar with the Evergreen Tavern owners and the massacre at the Gralhund Villa. Kailani and I looked to each other then to Jerky, asking her to take a seat and tell us what she knew. Once she joined us at the table, we talked about the Gralhund Villa Massacre and other topics relating to the case. During our conversation, she mentioned something about a rather significant stone and that a Nimblewright might have it in its possession. She said it could be possible that it was the same one as the rogue Nimblewright spotted by Gralhund Villa.</p><p>After talking, we decided to continue the search for the rogue Nimblewright, also hoping to find the stone Jerky said it might have. Before deciding to go with them, I wanted to see if I could interrogate the Gralhunds, but I figured since they weren’t going anywhere, I might as well try to find as much incriminating evidence as I could to make sure they didn’t get off free. Kailani and I allowed Arthur and Jerky to accompany us on the case since they seemed to be useful enough. There could be more information that they weren’t telling us, so we kept them on a short leash in case we needed to find out more about something later on. Kailani allowed Jerky to hold the Nimblewright detector as we began our search near Gralhund Villa. She had picked it up from the evidence stash at the station and Arthur elaborated on what it really was. After leaving the tavern, we continued to wander around the city until the device began to whir.</p><p>The detector began to activate as we neared the City of the Dead, which was the city’s graveyard. As we got closer to it, the device got louder and louder until it led us to a large mausoleum. Seeing as how the device was at its peak volume, we decided to head on inside to see if the Nimblewright was there. The interior was quiet with no one seeming to be around. I stood by the entrance while everyone else headed further inside to investigate. It was rather dark, so I just waited until they were done poking around. If the Nimblewright was really there, it had to get by me if it wanted to escape. One of others had a light with them so I was able to see generally where they were. A few minutes later, I noticed that the light they had was suddenly snuffed out. Seeing as how there wasn’t any commotion, I yelled out to ask if they had found anything. Shortly after I said that, I heard running around followed by a pained shriek coming from Kailani.</p><p>Something was wrong, so I drew my swords and hurried to where I heard Kailani scream. It was the first time I had both my sword and Kaz’s sword in my hands since she had died. Feeling the sword in my grasp, I could almost feel Kaz’s presence, as if she was there with me. It was very… relieving. When I got to where Kailani was, a bronze automaton stood in front of her wielding a rapier and wearing a red hat and tabard. Kailani was lying on the ground and was severely injured. I readied myself and lunged at the assailant whom I assumed was the rogue Nimblewright we were after. I had to keep it away before it could finish off Kailani. I swung at it but it dodged and parried my attacks. It was very quick and nimble, as I should have guessed based on its well-deserved namesake. Shortly after I engaged it in battle, Arthur and Jerky came up from behind it and began attacking as well.</p><p>We tried to reason with it, but it just kept attacking us so we had no choice but to use lethal force. Fortunately, Arthur managed to get Kailani back on her feet while Jerky and I kept the Nimblewright busy. During the fight, I happened to let my guard down and was knocked to the floor. I had let my emotions get the better of me which led to me getting bested by the Nimblewright. Thank goodness I wasn’t alone in the fight as Kailani helped me up. Eventually, the skirmish ended in our favor as Jerky got the finishing blow on it. Unfortunately, she smashed its head in, preventing us from interrogating it for more information. I just hoped this was the rogue Nimblewright everyone was looking for.</p><p>After the area was secure, I took a moment to catch my breath while the others began to search the Nimblewright’s remains. They found a pouch on the Nimblewright’s hip, but it didn’t hold the stone we were searching for. Arthur also found a map on its person which he shared with Kailani. While they were inspecting it, Arthur told us about a job he and his friends had received regarding the rogue Nimblewright. They were tasked with finding and destroying it. He said that a priestess of the House of Inspired Hands hired him and his group to carry out the task. Once we had finished up our business in the mausoleum, we took the Nimblewright’s sword and what remained of its head to bring to the priestess and collect the bounty.</p><p>We made our way through the city and arrived at the House of Inspired Hands where the priestess was said to be. We entered the temple and Arthur asked around for the priestess that hired him. Shortly after we arrived, the priestess came to greet us, though, she wasn’t dressed in her usual religious attire but instead in a more casual outfit. She was a Dragonborn by the name of Valetta. Arthur showed her the remains of the head and she recognized it as the rogue Nimblewright that her own created. Taking the remains, she thanked Arthur and went to gather his reward which consisted of a bag of 500 gold dragons and two of their inventions. One was called the “Barking Box” and the other was called the “Matchless Pipe”. The “Barking Box” was a device that made barking dog sounds and the “Matchless Pipe” was a pipe that had a built-in flint striker. Since Arthur was the only member of the original group, he received the full bounty, which I didn’t care. I wouldn’t have taken any of it if he offered it to me anyway. All I wanted was to find enough evidence to put the Gralhunds away for life and to find out what happened to Kaz.</p><p>After dealing with that, we decided to call it a night and head back home. In the morning, we’d meet back up at Evergreen Tavern to continue with the investigation. Arthur offered us a room at the tavern to stay. At first I declined, but then I remembered that Kaz lived there so I took him up on the offer. When we got back to the tavern, I specifically requested to stay in the room that used to be Kaz’s. He obliged and brought me to her room. The room was unoccupied and all the furniture was still in there, but Kaz’s belongings had been cleared out and stored in the crate I went through earlier. After Arthur left me alone, I closed the door and looked around.</p><p>I went over to the bed and took off my trench coat, tossing it on a nearby chair. Then I undid my belt and placed it there as well with the swords and pouches still on it. I exhaled tiredly and sat down on the bed, just sitting there as I tried to digest everything that happened that day. I had made a little progress in the case but I was still nowhere near finding out what happened to Kaz. I looked to her sword in its sheath and drew it out, looking at it once more. I then found a rag and began to clean the blade, making sure it was well taken care of. As I went about conducting maintenance on the sword, my eyes began to tear up as I remembered the first time I met her and held her blade. After the sword was returned to a near pristine condition, I put it back in its sheath and laid back on the bed.</p><p>As I lay there, I turned on my side and rested my face on the pillow there. I could detect the Kaz’s faint scent, so I buried my face in the pillow and breathed in before exhaling sadly. I remembered just lying there, crying by myself as I refused to remove my face from the pillow. After a while, I rolled over on my back and just stared at the ceiling, thinking about everything Kaz and I never got to do and all the time that was lost to us. I wondered where she was, perhaps watching me from the afterlife or something else. I was a complete mess as my thoughts were filled with my darling Kaz and nothing else. I felt so bad that I could hardly control myself. Eventually, I cried myself to sleep as Kaz continued to fill my thoughts and dreams.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>When I woke up the next morning, I heard movement and noise outside my room. For a second, I didn’t recognize where I was then remembered I was at the Evergreen Tavern. After lying in bed for a few moments, I got up and gathered my things. I headed downstairs and entered the tavern where I found Kailani and Jerky waiting for me. Shortly after I got there, Arthur came in carrying some curious magical items.</p><p>Arthur placed three of them on a table and told Kailani, Jerky, and I we could each have one. He told us the items were a gift from his father and were originally meant for his friends, but since they could no longer use them, he decided to give them to us. Kailani took the boots while Jerky took the belt. What was left was an odd helm which I ended up taking. It was a Helm of Telepathy but it looked horrible. I wasn’t a fan of helms and helmets, so I decided to just bring it home and leave it there.</p><p>After we had a quick bite to eat, we left to take care of a few errands before continuing with the case. It was very foggy out which limited our visibility. First, we decided to head to Fantasy Costco to find some items to help us in our investigation. I had some money in reserve so I decided to pick up a couple of items. The fight with the Nimblewright the day before made me realize I needed to keep my edge up. I bought a magical piece of armor called Glamoured Studded Leather. It allowed me to say a special phrase to make it look like a normal piece of clothing, so I decided to replace my trenchcoat with this and disguise it to look like my coat. I also got an enchanted ring to help boost my defense along with the armor. That day, each customer who bought something received a Potion of Hydration as well. I didn’t drink it yet but I was told it was basically a very refreshing bottle of water. I decided to save it for later. The others bought a few items as well and after we were done, we headed out.</p><p>Arthur wanted to take care of a personal errand so we followed him to a pet shop called the Little Nest. He apparently had a falcon on layaway and it was finally ready to be picked up. It was fully trained up and Arthur had the staff there deliver it to the Evergreen Tavern. After taking care of that, we continued with the case.</p><p>Kailani told us about what she and Arthur saw on the map the rogue Nimblewright had. There was a mark on a spot in the Dock Ward with “Grinda Garloth” written next to it, which we assumed was the name of a person. When we left the pet store, it was beginning to rain hard and the fog had started to subside. When we got to the Dock Ward, the torrent of rain made the dirt roads become muddy and hard to walk through. I didn’t mind the mud as I slogged along while getting soaked by the rain. The smaller members of the group were having a harder time, though, they seemed to manage. While we were walking, I noticed that Kailani hadn’t changed since I last saw her who was skipping along like her happy-go-lucky self. I just watched her, thinking she should behave more professionally being a detective and all, but she wasn’t hurting anyone so I let it slide.</p><p>When we arrived at the location marked according to the map, we came across a group of guys who seemed to be eyeing us as we approached. They were in our way, so when we went over to them, they told us that we were treading in dangerous territory. I wasn’t worried in the slightest, but they reassured us that hiring protection was highly encouraged while traversing through there, and by protection, they meant themselves. I wanted to ignore them and continue on with our investigation, but the others ended up hiring the leader, a human named Bone, and another of his associates. Bone and his colleague accompanied our group and lead us to this Grinda Garloth person whom they were familiar with.</p><p>We followed Bone further into the dock area which had been converted from a working dock into an old shanty town of sorts.  When we got to where Grinda apparently was, her dwelling was being sieged by five Xanathar Guild members. There was a group of four thugs trying to break into the house led by a dwarf with a crossbow for an arm. I immediately prepared myself for a fight as we came into view of them, but my partner wanted to try a non-aggressive approach first.</p><p>Typical Kailani. She told us to stand down and allow her to negotiate with them or something.</p><p>Against my better judgement, I allowed her to do her thing so we all waited for her signal to attack if necessary. She then began walking towards the supposed leader of the attacking group and was eventually noticed by him. The dwarf raised his crossbow at her and threatened to shoot if she continued advancing. At first, Kailani stopped and continued to try and talk with the dwarf, but then she slowly began inching closer to him. The dwarf had enough of her games and fired off a bolt, grazing her arm in the process. Seeing Kailani in danger, I rushed in to provide assistance as did everyone else. Even our muscle-for-hire got in on the action as they helped us fight the Xanathar Guild members.</p><p>I tried to get the gang members to drop their weapons and surrender peacefully, but of course they weren’t having any of it. Well, I tried to do it the easy way, so I guess I had to resort to the hard way. We had the advantage of numbers, outnumbering them six-to-five until the leader of the gang members whistled for backup. Suddenly, a Merrow popped out of the water next to us and set its sights on Kailani, using a harpoon to attack her with. I wanted to give her a hand, but I was too preoccupied with my own enemies. I wanted to get to the leader as soon as I could and take him out but unfortunately, I never got the chance. The coward disappeared from the battlefield and escaped but not without calling in more backup before he did.</p><p>As the dwarf seemingly vanished from sight, a group of eight individuals came out of nowhere and flanked us from behind. They didn’t appear to be Xanathar Guild members but instead looked to be more local muscle-for-hire like Bone was. It seemed like the dwarf with the arm crossbow had paid some of Bone’s comrades to work for him. Bone said he’d continue to fight with us against the Xanathar Guild members but couldn’t harm his brethren. Though, he did tell us that if we paid his colleagues more than what they were currently being paid, they’d fight by our side instead. I wasn’t about to spend a single coin but luckily, Jerky graciously promised to pay them to fight alongside us, spending around 40 or so gold dragons after the fight was over. After the enemy’s reinforcements became our own, we easily mopped up the rest of the Xanathar Guild members. The Merrow got away, but we managed to take care of the rest of the dwarf’s initial group.</p><p>Once the area was secure, we went over to the small house being sieged to see if our objective was all right. We had Bone and his men wait outside and keep watch for any more threats while we checked on Grinda. When we knocked on the door to ask if she was okay, she told us she was fine and had barricaded the door with whatever she could. Jerky helped her move the obstacles out of the way and allowed us to enter. Before we sat down to talk, Grinda prepared us tea while Arthur went about cleaning up the place. I didn’t have any of the tea and neither did Arthur. Kailani, on the other hand, had no qualms about drinking a stranger’s brew. She later told us it tasty salty and like seaweed which sounded absolutely horrible. I was glad I didn’t partake.</p><p>After sitting down, Grinda explained that she had received a particular stone from the rogue Nimblewright we fought earlier. It was called the Stone of Golorr and it was tied to the hidden treasure of Dagult Neverember, the previous Open Lord of Waterdeep. I thought it was just a legend but apparently there seemed to be some truth to it. She was supposed to hand it off to another person, the dwarf with the crossbow arm whose name was Noska, but she changed her mind. Instead, she had her rat familiar take it to her family mausoleum for safe keeping. When Noska came by asking for the stone, he tried to break in when Grinda refused to give it to him. After having all this sudden trouble and unwanted attention brought on by the stone, she decided to let us have it instead. She gave us a key to her family mausoleum, which was located in the City of the Dead, so we could retrieve it for ourselves.</p><p>Before leaving, she told us she was a treasure hunter and had a contraption that allowed her to explore the depths of the ocean. She said that if we ever wanted to, we could borrow it in exchange for half of whatever treasure we happened to come across while exploring using her contraption. I mean sure. That seemed fair. What were we exactly going to find other than sand, seaweed, and coral? We kept that in mind as we took our leave to retrieve the stone. One the way out, I told Bone and his crew to watch over Grinda and make sure nothing else bad happened to her. We may need to interrogate her later so we needed her alive in the meantime.</p><p>We made our way back to the City of the Dead and looked around for the Garloth family mausoleum. When we got there, we saw that it had been broken into. The front doors were forced open with scuff marks and mud found on the face of them. There were also two sets of muddy footprints that led into then out of the mausoleum. I prepared for a fight and quietly drew my swords just in case. The last time we were there in the City of the Dead, things didn’t exactly go as easily as I would’ve liked.</p><p>We quietly made our way inside and crept on down further into the crypt. Along the way, we saw that several of the coffins had been broken into. Looking inside, we noticed that several items ranging from pieces of clothing to personal items had been looted as well as some of the occupant’s bones. Things weren’t looking good as we kept an eye out for Grinda’s rat with the stone as we continued on. Further in, we found a dead rat but no stone which was worrying. We did, however, find a shiny, steel key that seemed to have been recently left behind. It didn’t have a layer of dust like everything else down there. After clearing the crypt and finding no Stone of Golorr, we double-backed and made our way back outside.</p><p>Just as we exited the mausoleum, we were stopped by four hooded individuals blocking our path. They all seemed to be Duergar and belonged to the Xanathar Guild. They demanded that we hand over the stone but alas, we did not have it. They didn’t seem to believe us and wouldn’t let us go, so we ended up engaging in a fight with them. Just after it had started, two of them vanished into thin air while the other two used an Enlarge spell to grow twice their size. It was an interesting fight but we easily took them out. I even managed to take out one of the big Duergar on my own. Seemed like I was getting back into the groove of things as I didn’t get struck once during that engagement.</p><p>As we were finishing up the fight, a knight came over to us inquiring about what was going on. His name was Sir Ambrose Everdawn, a tenured knight who currently spent his days patrolling the City of the Dead and warding off graverobbers. It seemed like he missed the two that broke into the Garloth mausoleum, but to be fair, the area was pretty vast for one person to keep a constant watch over. Kailani and I reassured him that everything was under control and that we were part of the City Watch. We told him that the Duergar had attacked us and we were just defending ourselves. After explaining ourselves to him, he insisted that we follow him out of the graveyard so he could begin cleaning things up. I wanted to investigate a bit further but he highly encouraged us to get lost. Not wanting to get combative, I yielded and followed him out as did everyone else. He notified two of the City Watch watchmen stationed just outside the City of the Dead, telling them about the situation before leaving us to take care of things.</p><p>Since it was getting late, we decided to call it a day and reconvene in the morning. Jerky left to head back home while Kailani followed Arthur and I back to the tavern. She decided to spend the night there as well and found a room to sleep in.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>In the morning, we had a quick breakfast then headed back out. We decided to try and find a locksmith to see if they were familiar with the key we found. It didn’t look like an ordinary key so hopefully we could find the person who made it. Perhaps they could tell us who made it and possibly what the key went to. It was our only lead on the graverobbers and the stone, so we had to go with it. We eventually found ourselves at a locksmith called the Metal House of Wonders. After making our way inside, we showed the owner the key but he wasn’t the one who created it. He was, though, familiar with its craftsmanship at least. He told us about a place in the Trades Ward owned by someone named Elaspra Ulmarr. She was the one to talk to if we wanted to know more about the key. We thanked him for his help then continued on our way into the Trades Ward.</p><p>On the way to our next destination, Kailani had us make a detour, taking us to visit a small diner called the Hot Spot. It specialized in spicy food and was owned and operated by her parents. I had been there once or twice before but I don’t remember it too well. It was a long time ago. When we went inside, Kailani introduced her parents to us then had us sit down for some food. I wasn’t particularly hungry but she ordered “the Special” for each of us anyway. When the food came out, I was given a spicy fish dish, a bowl of soup, a piece of bread, and some odd drink that I wasn’t too familiar with. Kailani told me that the drink was supposed to help with the heat when I drank it after having something spicy to eat. Not wanting to be rude, I at least tried a bit of the food. I tore off a small piece of bread and dipped it in the soup before putting it in my mouth. It was indeed spicy but I somehow managed to keep it all down. I told Kailani and her parents that it was good but refrained from having too much more. We still had a whole day of investigating to do. After we socialized for a bit, Kailani said goodbye to her mom and her dad and we continued on. On the way out, I took the rest of my bread to munch on along the way.</p><p>We eventually found the establishment owned by Elaspra Ulmarr and went inside. Kailani showed her the key we found and she was in fact the maker of it. Unfortunately, she couldn’t divulge the owner of the key or their address, citing something along the lines of customer confidentiality. I insisted that she tell us on the basis of City Watch official business but she continued to deny us any information. I was about to slap her with a hampering justice charge but Kailani took over and talked with the shopkeep. She and Elaspra chatted for a bit and Kailani managed to get some information out of her.</p><p>I was impressed. She may have been the same, bubbly girl I knew back when we worked in the Watch together, but she had at least gotten better with her detective work. I asked her how she did it and she said she had her ways. She told me that the key belonged to a person named Volkarr Kibbens. He lived in the Southern Ward in an old windmill along with another person named Urlaster Ghann. With the new information gained, we headed out towards the Southern Ward to find the owners of the key.</p><p>It was cloudy out and still raining a bit which made traveling through the streets rather dull. The streets weren’t as busy as they usually were and most of the citizens were indoors trying to stay dry. After a long walk, we arrived in the Southern Ward and found the windmill without any trouble. It seemed to be rundown like the rest of its surroundings. We approached with caution as Kailani did a quick inspection of the perimeter. There seemed to be only one door leading in, so we stacked up on the entrance and prepared to enter. The others heard voices but couldn’t discern how many people were inside. There wasn’t a lock on the door so we carefully opened the door and quietly headed inside.</p><p> We all went in and looked around our immediate surroundings, keeping an eye out for any hostiles. There didn’t seem to be any threats but instead nothing but civilians wandering about. They all looked destitute and seemed to be squatting there, just trying to find a place to live what little of a life they had. I remained by the entrance while everyone else split up to look around. After a while, Kailani and Jerky came back over to where I was to report what they had found out. Jerky said that there was a group of people that lived upstairs who didn’t fancy uninvited guests. She said they may or may not be the graverobbers we were looking for. Since Arthur hadn’t returned yet, we decided to go look for him.</p><p>I saw him turn left when we first entered so we headed in that direction. As we approached a staircase leading upstairs, we heard a loud crash from inside a room next to it. I drew my swords and hurried to see what the noise was in case Arthur was in trouble. I burst through the door into the room while Kailani and Jerky went upstairs. I arrived at the source of the noise and saw nothing but debris inside a small room. When I looked up into the hole in the ceiling, I saw Arthur seemingly unscathed as Kailani and Jerky stood beside him. Seeing that he was all right, I sheathed my swords and went upstairs to regroup.</p><p>When I met up with them, we all looked to a locked door that Arthur had found. We guessed that had to be the lock the key was paired with. We stealthily made our way over to the door and prepared to storm in. Kailani used the key and unlocked the door, carefully opening it up for the rest of us. As the door opened up, we initially saw no one inside. Everyone carefully made their way into the room while I just stood in the doorway. Shortly after the others entered the room, I was forced to step just inside the frame as Kailani closed the door, locking us inside just in case there was someone hiding about. I leaned against the wall beside the door as I watched the others look around, wondering if the graverobbers were even there.</p><p>Arthur looked to a suspicious wardrobe in the room as he heard movement from within. He looked to Kailani who prepared a spell with her wand as she readied a hand on the wardrobe’s handle. When Arthur was ready, Kailani opened the door and stood off to the side, waiting for someone to pop out. Upon seeing nothing but clothes inside, Arthur took a step closer to get a closer look but was then ambushed by a man hiding within. He was wielding a small shovel and smacked Arthur on the head with it. As Kailani tried to use a spell to help him, another man came out from behind the curtains and attacked Jerky using a larger shovel. Jerky took a devastating hit to the face which broke her nose and caused it to bleed. Seeing hostiles, I immediately drew my swords and looked to the two attackers as they stood beside one another, hysterical and panicked about us being there.</p><p>I was about to engage them but Jerky insisted I stay my sword, wanting to try and talk with them first. I gritted my teeth but decided to let her have her shot since the ambushers didn’t appear to be attacking anymore. I sheathed my swords and stood back along with Kailani. Once the initial hostilities had ceased, the two men still refused to talk, saying that we were trespassing and being aggressive. Apparently, their mistrust was directed at me and Kailani since we were part of the City Watch, so Jerky requested that we wait outside while she and Arthur talked with them. I grumbled but if it meant that we could continue with the case, I relented and stepped outside along with Kailani, closing the door behind us.</p><p>As Jerky and Arthur continued to talk with the two graverobbers inside the room, I just stood around with Kailani, engaging in some small talk while we waited. After a good amount of time had passed by, the door opened with Arthur and Jerky coming back out. While the door was still open, I looked to the graverobbers and gave them a look, saying to them while gesturing to watch themselves in the future. I could’ve easily slapped them with a tomb-robbing charge amongst other things, but we had more concerning matters to deal with at the moment. Immediately after Arthur and Jerky had left the room, the graverobbers rushed to close the door and locked it. As Jerky was leaving, I noticed that she was carrying a bunch of random stuff with her. When I asked where she got it all from, she said that she took back a few key items from the graverobbers that were apparently taken from the Garloth mausoleum. She was going to return it to Grinda when she got the chance. She also planned to tell her the bad news regarding her family mausoleum and her dead rat familiar.</p><p>While making our way back downstairs, Jerky told us about what she managed to get out of the pair of graverobbers. She said that a person named Losser Mirklav had hired the two men to dig up graves and bring him bones. They said Losser was a necromancer and needed the bones for something. She didn’t elaborate on what that something was but whatever it happened to be, it probably wasn’t good. Either that or he had a very odd liking for them, but by being a necromancer, we figured the bones were going to be used for some other nefarious purpose. Anyway, Jerky found out that Losser owned, or at least was located at a wig shop called Dandymops in the Trades District. It acted as a front for illicit activities he was involved in. The graverobbers met with him at that location to conduct business during random hours. Once we had our next destination, we headed out to continue with our investigation.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Stone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We made our way across the city and arrived in the Trades District, eventually finding the store called Dandymops. The storefront was closed and secured, apparently not open for business at the moment if it ever was. There was no light emanating from within and there were metal bars on the windows. It seemed like business hadn’t been conducted there for some time. It made sense if this was truly just a front; nobody would want to break in to a place just to steal some powdered wigs, so it was a good cover to hide the other dealings that probably took place there. We approached the shop and looked through the front window, seeing wigs and other things a normal wig store would have inside. The door was locked though and there didn’t seem to be another way inside.</p><p>Having no other alternative, I had the others bunch up around me as I took out my lock-picking tools. I quickly went to work and easily popped the lock. I discreetly stood back up and opened the door, ushering the others to get inside as quickly as possible. Once we were all in the shop, I closed the door and made sure no one was watching us. We then looked to the interior of the store to make sure we were truly alone. It was dim and we didn’t see or hear any movement so far. We headed further into the back and found a staircase that led downward into a basement. Seeing no one around, we decided to continue on downstairs to see where it led.</p><p>We found nothing but more wig making supplies and an odd heavy metal door. There was writing on it that said something about it being a sewer access and meant only for city officials or whatnot. I wasn’t too keen about heading into the sewers as I had done plenty of that during my early days in the City Watch. Luckily, Kailani and I were both city officials so we were well within our right to use the access point. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a key and it was locked shut. I gave a sigh as I took out my lock-picking tools again and went to work. The door seemed to be a lot harder than the one out front and after two attempts, I still couldn’t get it open. Jerky had watched me pick the first lock and was watching me again as I tried to open this door. After I failed to get it open, she asked if she could give it a shot. Figuring no harm could be done, I thought why not and handed her my tools. She tried her hand at it and surprisingly managed to get it unlocked. I guess it just needed a more feminine touch. After taking back my tools, I twisted the locking mechanism and opened it up.</p><p>Immediately after the door’s seal was broken, we could smell the horrid stench coming from the sewer on the other side. Not wanting to spend any more time than we needed to there, I took the lead and led the group down below the shop and into the city sewer system. It was pretty dark so Arthur took out a torch and lit it up. I remained at the head of the line with Arthur behind me followed by Jerky and Kailani picking up the rear. As I continued on, I saw a branch in the path that had a step ladder which seemed to be a new addition. It didn’t look to be part of the original architecture so someone must’ve added it rather recently. I figured that must’ve been the way to go so I hopped on down.</p><p>The sewage was about three feet deep so I managed to stand relatively okay. It was still disgusting and smelled horrible, but City Watch work was rarely ever peaches and daises. Since Arthur and Jerky were too short to stand on their own, Arthur piggy-backed with me while Jerky went with Kailani behind me. Arthur continued to light the way with the torch in his hand as I trudged along, sloshing through the city’s filth.</p><p>While we were walking, Arthur detected something and had me stop. I brought him closer to the wall in question where he gave it a closer look and discovered a hidden door there. After he managed to push open the door, I boosted him up so he could look around the landing. It was pitch black so Arthur used a spell to see if he could detect anything. While he was doing that, I got up with him and helped Jerky and Kailani up as well. Kailani used a spell to clean us all up which I was very thankful for. I wasn’t about to walk around covered in sewage with filth in my boots. After Arthur got an ominous reading from his spell, he tossed his torch a little ways into the room to see if he could spot whatever was triggering his senses.</p><p>As the torch rolled along the floor, we began to hear movement all around us so we prepared for a fight. He told us he detected undead which I suppose was a good sign, seeing as how we were looking for a Necromancer and all. I drew my swords but had a hard time spotting enemies. The only light in the large room came from Arthur’s small torch which only dimly lit a small area around it. I had to fight defensively so I waited for them to come to me. The four of us engaged the undead force which was composed of zombies and skeletons. I took out a few of them on my own while they others fought valiantly beside me. We managed to mop them all up without any trouble at all.</p><p>I was feeling fine but some of the others needed a breather, so we took an hour or so to rest up. While they were resting, I gathered up all the remains from the enemies we fought into a pile. I then took a piece of chalk from my utility pouch and wrote on the wall next to it “You’re Welcome”. Didn’t bother to sign it though. I just wanted to let the next unfortunate soul that came down there to know we saved them a lot of trouble.</p><p>After the others had their break, we continued looking around the room we were in. We found a couple of side rooms but there was nothing there except for more bones. Other than that, there was a staircase that led up somewhere. Not wanting to get back in the sewage, we tried our luck with the staircase. Unfortunately, it led up to a passageway that had been walled off with bricks and sealed shut. We figured that the people behind the wall had sealed the passage off for a reason, most likely to keep the undead we fought earlier from getting by, so we didn’t bother breaking the wall down. Damn city officials. Out of sight and out of mind was probably what they were thinking when they sealed off the passage. They’d rather just hide the problem away instead of fixing it for good and removing the threat themselves. Well, consider the problem fixed. With no other alternative, we made our way back down and into the sewage water again.</p><p>I led the way and we all proceeded like last time, continuing on down the passageway with Arthur on my back and Jerky on Kailani’s. Down the corridor, we discovered another door except it wasn’t hidden. It was heavily rusted and the lock on it seemed to be non-functioning. I boosted Arthur up once more and he managed to open the door which made a loud screech. Once it was open, I went up with him followed by the other two. I led the way, careful not to make too much noise as I proceeded down the dark hallway. We looked around and didn’t find much of note except for an empty side room.</p><p>Further into the chamber, we heard some fighting as we saw three Kenkus fighting against two skeletons. Behind the skeletons was a small halfling cowering in the corner. He was wearing suspicious-looking robes so we guessed that had to be the necromancer named Losser if the skeletons were protecting him. We approached with caution and got a better look of our surroundings. There were around four dead Kenkus on the ground as well as several skeletal remains. The Kenkus looked to be part of the Xanathar’s Guild. Before we joined the fray, I told the others to try and keep Losser and the Kenkus alive. There was a possibility that we may need to interrogate them to get further information on the whereabouts of the stone. They acknowledged and moved into position to launch a surprise attack on the unsuspecting group.</p><p>Once we were all ready, we got the jump on the Kenkus and attacked. Jerky and I managed to easily incapacitate two of the Kenkus without killing them, but my partner, however, failed to realize how powerful and deadly her spells really were. I guess she got too excited and carelessly fired off a firebolt at the last Kenku which blew open a hole in its chest, instantly killing the little bird. She smiled at me in an apologetic manner so I just shrugged it off, remembering it was Kailani we were talking about. I supposed it’d provide a strong message to the other two Kenkus if they decided not to cooperate.</p><p>During the battle, one of Losser’s skeletons attacked Jerky to which she responded in kind by smashing it to pieces. She then tried to get Losser and his remaining skeleton to stand down, saying we were on his side… for now. After some talking, we got him to back off as we asked about the stone. He told us that a Kenku had gotten it and escaped already. He was pretty beat up, so we figured the Kenkus got the drop on him and managed to wrestle the stone away before giving it to one of them to escape with. Not wanting to waste any more time, Jerky hurried off to get after it. At that point, I was stuck. Either go apprehend the powerful and potentially dangerous necromancer or go after the stone. I mean, we had a couple Kenku prisoners still alive to interrogate but I’ve handled Kenkus before. They weren’t exactly the easiest criminals to interrogate. Along with that, they might not even know where the stone was being taken, so I had to make a choice.</p><p>After taking a brief moment to think it over, I hurried over to one of the Kenkus and cuffed it using my manacles. I then lifted it up on my shoulder and told Kailani to handle things in there while I went to go get the stone. While carrying the restrained Kenku, I hurried off to follow after Jerky who was way ahead of me by then. I figured we may need the Kenku as a bargaining chip when negotiating with the escaping Kenku, so why not bring it along. As I left Kailani and Arthur in the sewer with Losser, I hurried up the stairs in an adjacent room and soon found myself back topside.</p><p>The breath of fresh air was refreshing, though it still smelled like the dirty streets of Waterdeep, but at least it was better than the sewer. It was raining heavily as I looked around, finding myself in an alley beside the wig shop we were in earlier. As I stepped out of the doorway with the Kenku, I noticed two watchmen there as well, giving me an odd look and asking what I was doing. They were apparently investigating the break-in at Dandymops that someone must’ve reported. When they confronted me, I quickly identified myself as a detective with the City Watch and was pursuing a fugitive on the loose. I asked if they had seen a Kenku or gnome pass them by and they pointed me in the right direction. Seeing as I had a lot of running to do, I dropped off the restrained Kenku with them and told them to secure the area.</p><p>The heavy rain didn’t make running through the crowded streets of Waterdeep any easier. I hurried in the direction the two watchmen pointed me in and I eventually caught sight of Jerky. She was fast and nimble, easily getting through the busy streets with ease. To be honest, I was having difficulty keeping up. The Kenku must’ve also been pretty quick if she hadn’t caught up with it yet. Eventually, I began to run out of breath as I felt myself slowing down to almost a slight jog. I hadn’t ran that much since my early days as a watchman working a beat on the streets. Eventually, Kailani and even Arthur came by and passed me on the way to help Jerky. Up ahead, Jerky managed to find an opportunity to strike and got a boost of speed, pouncing on the Kenku and tackling it to the ground. As she did, the stone was thrown from the Kenku’s grasp as it slid across the ground. Just as Jerky was about to recover from the flying tackle, another Kenku came from off to the side and took the stone before running off. Jerky hurried back to her feet and continued to give chase.</p><p>After running for what seemed like an eternity, the three of us tracked Jerky down and saw her waiting outside a tower on the outskirts of town. While we were heading to the tower, which was located in an open field of tall grass, Kailani and Arthur filled me in on what happened in the sewer after I had left. They were about to detain Losser but he lashed out and nearly killed Arthur. Seeing as there was no way to bring him in quietly, Kailani ended up killing the necromancer, which was good. Had I been down there still, I probably would’ve done the same thing. One less piece of filth in my city that we had to deal with. Unfortunately, I had more pressing matters in the form of the stone to deal with, so I trusted Kailani could handle things on her own. I’m just glad she made it out of there okay. I don’t think I could’ve taken the loss of another good friend in such a short amount of time.</p><p>We all made our way over to her and she told us that the Kenku she was chasing had rushed inside. While she was waiting, Jerky had gone around the perimeter of the tower and only saw one entrance, that being the front one where she standing when we met her. Once we were ready, I carefully opened the door and led the way inside. Immediately as we entered, we saw two kids lying on the ground in the center of the room. They were crying and appeared to have been playing there until the Kenku barged in unexpectedly. I glanced around the room and didn’t see the Kenku anywhere. I motioned for Kailani and Jerky to check on the kids then looked to Arthur, gesturing for him to follow me over to the stairs that were further inside the room. After checking on the kids, Kailani and Jerky joined us by the stairs and told us what happened. The Kenku had taken one of their friends, a boy named Squiggly, hostage and had retreated upstairs.</p><p>Seeing as the Kenku had a hostage, we proceeded up the stairs carefully so we didn’t spook the Kenku. When we got to the top, we found the Kenku towards the back of the room as well as Squiggly. The Kenku had the stone in one hand while its other hand was clutched around the boy’s neck, its sharp talons poised to rip it open should the Kenku feel too threatened. We all stood in front of the Kenku and urged it to remain calm. We didn’t want it doing anything rash and potentially harming the boy. The boy was struggling to get free but the Kenku had a firm grasp on him. He was a tiefling and was dressed in a costume of sorts like his friends downstairs. I let Kailani and Jerky do most of the talking since they appeared to be the less threatening of the four of us.</p><p>At first, Jerky tried to lure the Kenku into a false sense of security by bribing it with coins. She started off with a couple of gold dragons but the Kenku kept demanding more. She then kept increasing the amount by throwing in gold dragon after gold dragon, but it still wasn’t enough. Eventually, she got fed up with the bird and reached into her coin purse, tossing a handful of copper coins onto the ground in front of it. The copper seemed to anger the Kenku as it tightened its grip on the boy and became irate. Seeing the potential for it escalating too far, Kailani used a spell to put the Kenku and the boy to sleep. It worked and they were both knocked out long enough for us to take control of the situation.</p><p>Kailani cuffed the Kenku using a pair of manacles while Jerky hurried over and picked up all the coins she tried to bribe it with. While she was picking up her coins, Jerky found the stone and picked it up as well. Once the perpetrator was secure, Arthur checked the boy for any injuries and tried to wake him up. Initially after Arthur slapped him awake, the boy was startled and tried to bite him. It turned out Squiggly was fine, and after waking back up, we explained what happened then allowed him to return to his friends. Before he left, Kailani and I told him to take his friends and go home. He nodded his head in acknowledgment and hurried on downstairs. While we were securing the area, we were suddenly attacked once again.</p><p>This time, three Gazers appeared in the arrow-slit windows and began to attack us. I immediately drew my swords and slashed at the nearest one to me. I thrust at it twice, once with each sword, and managed to kill it outright. I looked to the others who were engaging the other two. I got in another hit and finished off a second Gazer before the others took care of the third. By the time the battle was over, we noticed the Kenku we cuffed earlier had escaped, seemingly having jumped out a window. We looked all around but couldn’t find it afterwards, so we just let it go. We figured that a lone, half-dead Kenku with cuffed wrists wouldn’t be a threat to anyone. Once the threat had been dealt with, we decided to check the rest of the tower before moving on.</p><p>There was another staircase on the ground floor that led downward, so we headed that way. In the cellar, there was nothing but a crate of rations and a closed door. Kailani opened the crate and decided to take a ration or two despite not knowing who the owner was. She said it was probably gang-owned so it was free game, but I wasn’t convinced so I didn’t partake. The door was locked and pretty hefty, so I tried to pick the lock but to no avail. After I couldn’t get it open, Arthur tried to bash it down with brute strength but only managed to put a little dent in it. Seeing that the males had failed, Jerky decided to give a shot at lock-picking it but failed miserably, managing to break one of my tools in the process. She was so sorry and gave me ten gold dragons to get a replacement which was nice of her. In the end, Kailani used some fire magic and burned down the door. I would’ve preferred she didn’t do something that totally destroyed the door, but oh well. Hopefully nobody went down there and saw what we did.</p><p>Inside the small room was a teleportation circle and a chest. We didn’t know how to use the circle so we looked to the contents of the chest instead. Inside, we found two magical items that seemed interesting enough. One was a broken wand with a purple hue to it. After giving it a closer look, Kailani figured it was a Wand of Magic Missile and decided to keep it for herself. The other item was called a Drift Globe which Kailani also managed to identify, though, she let Arthur hold on to that item. It was able to emit light or something and had a few other neat properties to it. While we were in the room, Kailani took a closer look at the stone recovered from the Kenku. She told us that there seemed to be an ominous aura emanating from it but couldn’t discern exactly what it was. Once we had finished up our business at the tower, we decided to head back to the tavern to get some rest.</p><p>It was still drizzling but at least the rain had died down significantly. On the way back, Jerky noticed something ahead of us and stopped Kailani before she stepped into a large puddle in front of her. Upon closer inspection, we noticed a primed bear trap lying in wait in the center of it. Kailani then used Mage Hand and triggered the trap which made its sharp, metal jaws clamp firmly shut. I found it strangely suspicious that it was placed there so I went over and picked it up. It was highly unsafe to just leave something so dangerous lying about. Just as I did that, the others saw a group of what appeared to be children giggling in the distance ahead of us. They were all wearing goblin masks of sorts and dressed in costumes.</p><p>They then began coming in our direction and tried to run past us. Seeing as how this was a very dangerous and almost criminal prank, I reached out grabbed one of them by the back of their shirt. As I managed to grab hold of one, I pulled them up to eye level with me and showed them the bear trip, asking if they were involved with this. Just as I did that, a Bugbear, whose name was Morga, appeared out in front of us. I looked to the kid in my hand then to Morga, asking if they were the child’s guardian. Suddenly, the child brandished a dagger and tried to stab me, but I managed to let go of it before it struck me. As it fell to the ground in front of me, Morga addressed us, saying that we were causing lots of trouble for the Xanathar’s Guild. I looked to the Bugbear then to the child who then revealed its identity. It was actually a Kobold and after it took off its mask, a large group of around eight or so more Kobolds came out behind us. Seeing as how we were surrounded, we all prepared for a fight.</p><p>Just as we were about to fight, an explosion happened behind us as a large fireball engulfed the area right in the middle of the Kobold formation. I turned around to see what happened and saw a mangled mess of Kobold bodies, debris, and flames all around the surrounding area. Luckily, the slight rain prevented the fire from spreading out of control but it was still a huge mess. Arthur said he had taken care of the Kobold problem and allowed us to focus on Morga. How he managed to do all that, I wasn’t quite certain, but at the time, I had no reason to complain. The remaining Kobold that was in front of me was horrified to see what happened to its friends and promptly surrendered to us. Kailani took custody of the Kobold, whose name was Ogga, and commanded it to help us fight against Morga.</p><p>During the fight with the Bugbear, an Intellect Devourer appeared on the battlefield and fought alongside it. As we fought, Kailani and Jerky managed to finish off Morga and all seemed like it was going smoothly. Suddenly, five more Intellect Devourers joined the fray and surrounded us. We regrouped as we fought off the enemy reinforcements, keeping a steady control over the flow of battle. Just after more enemies had shown up to give us a hard time, another figure joined in on the combat, except this time, they were fighting on our side. They were cloaked in a hood and engaged three of the Intellect Devourers on his own, seemingly having no problem at all taking them on. The rest of us finished up the rest of the enemies then went over to him after he had finished off his third foe.</p><p>The mysterious individual was an old man yet he fought with the ferocity of someone my age, even younger perhaps. With only his fists, he managed to fight off three enemies and defeat them with no trouble at all. He was very powerful and we were thankful that he fought on our side. His name was Hlam and he apparently worked with the Order of the Gauntlet which made sense, seeing his brooch which was fashioned in the Order’s emblem. When we asked why he came to our aid all of a sudden, he said he knew Arthur and had been following his progress after he had taken over ownership of Evergreen Tavern along with his friends.</p><p>While they were talking, I had Ogga show me any more traps that they had set so I could disarm them. Kailani followed us after she put out the fires caused by the fireball earlier and we managed to disarm and recover a total of three bear traps. I scolded Ogga for setting up such potentially lethal devices in city streets then left him in Kailani’s supervision to deal with further. After taking care of the traps, I inspected the Bugbear for any evidence but came up short. I just took its mace so it wasn’t left behind for someone else to take and misuse. With the traps and mace in tow, I went back over to the others to hear what they were talking about.</p><p>Not wanting to be out in the rain any longer, Hlam suggested we take a carriage back to Evergreen Tavern to continue our conversation. Seeing no problem with that, we agreed and went to find one of the magical carriages that roamed about the city. They didn’t have a driver or animals pulling it and instead relied on magic. It took passengers wherever they needed to go within the city as long as they paid the fare. It only took a single silver shard to use, so I placed a coin in the coin slot then got on, still carrying the three bear traps and large mace. The carriage sat eight passengers comfortably and we mostly had the carriage to ourselves except for a lone couple in the corner. We mostly spent the ride back to the tavern in silence with the couple getting off a couple stops before ours. During the ride, Jerky asked where Hlam was from and he said that he lived in the mountains north of Waterdeep. When we got back, we decided to find a table in the tavern to sit at and continue talking.</p><p>We all entered the tavern, which was back to regular operations and was rather busy at the moment. Luckily, there was an open table so we headed over and each took a seat. The seat Arthur had chosen was magically pulled out for him as he sat down at the table. I was confused at first, thinking they had enchanted chairs, but then I remembered Arthur and Kailani talking about ghosts or something when we first met him. I just shrugged it off and took my seat, thinking nothing of it. As Kailani was about to take hers, the seat was also pulled out for her, though, just as she was about to sit down, the chair was pulled further out from under her which caused her to fall to the floor. I then realized it had to be a ghost as magically enchanted items didn’t pull pranks on people, or at least, I didn’t think they did. I chuckled and joked with her, asking if she forgot how to sit. She just sneered at me and made a remark about me being out of breath during our chase earlier in the day. Same old Kailani. There were only enough seats for everyone except Ogga the Kobold, so he had to sit on the floor next to Kailani. Eventually, Kailani pulled over a stool for him to sit on.</p><p>Once we were all situated in, a half-orc who worked at the tavern came over to get us something to eat and drink. He introduced himself as Cragnar and was happy to see his boss back safe and sound. He got us all a round of ale and some food to eat then left to help another customer. After taking a moment to eat and drink, Hlam picked up from where we had left off in our conversation. He told us that he was sorry to hear about what happened with Arthur’s companions and wished he had intervened sooner. Unfortunately, he was following Arthur when he left the villa and was unaware of the events that were transpiring back there until it was too late. After that, he began to get into more specifics about the stone which were hard to comprehend and follow along with.</p><p>Hlam told us that the stone was no ordinary stone, which we had figured already. Instead, the Stone of Golorr was actually a living entity, an ancient Aboleth named Golorr. The stone originally belonged to the infamous Beholder, Xanathar, but was stolen by the Zhentarim, formerly known as the Black Network. Eventually, the stone was stolen again by a gnome who supposedly worked for Lord Neverember. Hlam then went on to talk about some of the strange properties the stone had such as memory loss. If the stone was stolen, then its previous owner had all its memory regarding it erased, making them forgot that they had ever possessed the stone in the first place. After mentioning all that, Hlam told us about what the stone really was.</p><p>Hlam said that the stone was both a key and a vessel. The Aboleth yearned and hungered for knowledge and fed off of it. Whoever managed to successfully attune to the stone would have access to the wide plethora of knowledge held within; however, once attuned, Golorr had access to all the knowledge the person who attuned to it possessed. The stone almost had a mind of its own and was picky about who got to attune to it. Being the finicky creature it was, Golorr could even find a new host if it got too bored with its current owner. It was able to influence the people around the owner in an attempt to get away and find someone new. What was so special about the stone, though, and why everyone wanted it, was that it held the location of Lord Neverember’s hidden cache of gold dragons. Unfortunately, the location was hidden within the vast sea of information the Aboleth possessed. Before being exiled to Neverwinter, Lord Neverember hid a large sum of gold which was currently being hunted by some of the city’s less reputable factions. They aimed to use the large amount of gold to wreak havoc on the city and rule it however they saw fit. In order to access the stash, one first had to find the secret location of the vault. In addition to that, one also had to find the three hidden keys required to open it.</p><p>Regrettably, Hlam did not know the location of the vault or the keys, so he couldn’t provide any insight on that. Once he was done talking and had answered all the questions he could, he took his leave and returned home. Hearing everything that he had to say, it was almost too much to take in. Just what had Kaz gotten herself into? What had I gotten myself into? I almost even contemplated reporting all this to the City Watch, but fortunately, I got a hold of myself and kept my reservations to myself. Whatever this was, I had to solve it myself to put the Gralhunds away for good and bring justice to my fallen love.</p><p>After a long day of running around town, we all decided to call it a night and get some sleep. Kailani suggested we all sleep in the same room at the tavern for protection, just in case someone came after the stone and attacked us. I didn’t have any problem with her reasoning and went upstairs to get our room in order. I pulled a mattress from another room and set in on the floor inside the one we chose to sleep in. We decided to have someone keep watch at all times while we slept, so Kailani volunteered to take the first shift. I had no qualms with that so I found a spot to lay down on and tried to get some shut eye before my shift.</p><p>It was the middle of the night and I found myself being woken up by Kailani, which wasn’t the first time that had happened to me. I stirred awake then got up, letting her find a spot to sleep while I went to stand watch, and by stand, I meant sitting in a chair. My shift was pretty uneventful as my companions all slept in front of me. I did happen to see a couple of large, hairy rats scampering about but they disappeared, seemingly having found a hole to run into. They didn’t go near Kailani, who was still holding on to the stone, at the time so I didn’t pay them much attention. When my shift was up, I decided to pick Arthur for the next shift, allowing the little lady to get more sleep in. In hindsight, I should’ve went with Jerky instead, but oh well. As I went to wake up Arthur, he began to flail about as he awoke from his drunken slumber. I should’ve known better but I was still a bit tired myself, so I just told him he was next and to watch out for rats. I then crawled over to my spot and passed out from exhaustion.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Visions and Riddles</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, I was again woken up by Kailani who was crouched down next to me on the ground. She asked what happened after my shift the night before and I said I picked Arthur for the next one after mine. She told me that no one took the last shift and Jerky had woken up with seemingly no one on duty. Disappointed, we all then looked to Arthur who was still passed out drunk on the seat I remembered him taking before I went to bed.</p><p>We all made our way over to him and just stood there, seeing the sleeping halfling just sitting there asleep. Frustrated with him, Kailani used a spell that made him seem like he soiled his pants. The smell was awful so I took a few steps back. The stench also seemed to wake Arthur up who was confused to find us all standing around him. He then gagged a little and threw up some on himself. I just shook my head and turned around, cursing myself for having let Kaz associate herself with such unbecoming people.</p><p>After Arthur had cleaned himself up, we remained in the room and talked about what to do about the stone. Eventually, we came to the consensus that Arthur should take the stone and try to attune to it. I wasn’t exactly the most knowledgeable when it came to magic so I didn’t want to do it. Seeing as how Arthur didn’t seem all that bright, we let him risk it, though, he was the last survivor of the Evergreen owners, so it’d be a substantial loss if he ended up dying. But oh well. It was worth the risk. Once he was ready, Arthur took the stone and began trying to attune to it, however that worked. It was going to take some time, so I opened up the bedroom door and stepped into the hallway, leaning against the wall as I kept a look out for anything suspicious. I didn’t want to be in the room if something bad happened, like Arthur turning into some eldritch horror or just possibly exploding, so I just watched from the doorway. Meanwhile, Jerky opened a window within the bedroom and kept watch outside. In front of Arthur, Kailani just sat and meditated.</p><p>Eventually, Arthur seemed to go into a trance-like state after about an hour of focusing on the stone. We all just watched him, wondering what was going on inside his head or the stone or wherever his consciousness was. After a few moments, he came to, seemingly unharmed by the experience. He then told us all about what he saw when he attuned to the stone. While he was attuning to it, he came in contact with Golorr and was shown a vision of some sort. He told us the details and he figured the Aboleth was showing him the location of the vault. It was very vague, but he remembered bits and pieces of it. There was a person outside an establishment waving tickets in his hand. The people around were all fancily dressed. Later on, Arthur found himself inside a lavishly decorated room before being shown a trapdoor in the floor. After it abruptly opened up, he broke out of his vision.</p><p>That wasn’t much to go on as we all stood around, wondering what it could all mean. Thinking on the specifics he did manage to tell us, it sounded almost like he was describing a theater of sorts. The ticket person out front, the well-dressed people heading into the building, and the room that sounded almost like a dressing room of sorts. I told the others my theory and they said it was worth a shot looking into. Fortunately for them, I knew of two theaters in the city we could check out. When I was a kid, my parents took me to see plays and stuff at theaters, much to my disappointment. I was more of a sports fan, preferring to see events and games rather than posh stage performances, though, the occasional opera or classical concert was okay to watch. Anyway, the two theaters I remembered from my youth were the Pink Flumph and Ulavar’s Wonder. The group and I decided to check out the Pink Flumph first since it sounded so ridiculous. Arthur then remembered that he could ask Golorr up to three questions per day and figured he ask it something before we left.</p><p>The group wanted Arthur to ask Golorr where the three keys were that were required to open the vault. Arthur prepared himself and clutched the stone close, going into a trance-like state again as he tried to communicate with the Aboleth. After a short period of time, Arthur broke out of it and looked to us. He managed to get in touch with the ancient being, but the response he got was cryptic. He told us that one of the keys was something he touched every day, another something he could buy at any merchant’s stall, and the last something that he watched others do but couldn’t quite do himself. We all pondered what it could all mean but came up short, not being able to figure the riddles out. Since we had a better lead with the theaters, we decided to try that first and headed out, stopping by the tavern for some breakfast before heading out.</p><p>We all sat together at a table and grabbed a quick bite to eat. While we there, Arthur felt something strange about him, as if he was suddenly more magically capable or something. It seemed that attuning to the stone gave him some additional powers. Wanting to test something out, he looked to the bowl of oatmeal Kailani was eating from and focused. As I was about to skewer another piece of egg with my fork, I was suddenly pushed back from the table as a huge force erupted in front of us. Apparently, Arthur had used the Thunderclap cantrip which sent everything on the table flying while pushing us back a bit. I just sat there frozen in my seat with the fork still in my hand, trying to comprehend what happened. As I blinked a few times, I looked up to see everyone else in a similar state with Arthur just as surprised as we were. Some of the dishes that were blown away hit Jerky in the head which gave her a small scratch. Arthur apologized and went over to her, grabbing a rag and wetting it with some water to clean her up. After shaking off the shock of what happened, I turned to Arthur and told him not to do that again as I scooted my chair closer to the table. I was really looking forward to finishing those eggs too, but they were then a dirty mess on the floor.</p><p>As we were about to leave, Arthur felt like he had one more trick up his sleeve that he had yet to discover. Not wanting a repeat of earlier, he went over to a window and opened it up, aiming to the sky as he focused on his new spell. Suddenly, I found myself emitting a green glow as all of us except him began to shine a bright green. It was almost blinding as I closed my eyes and began to yell at Arthur to make it stop. Fortunately, it didn’t last long so after it had dissipated, we left the tavern to begin our search for the theaters.</p><p>Having brought up that I had been to the theaters before, I was unwittingly put in charge of leading us there. The trouble was that I was but a small child when I last visited there, so my memory about its exact whereabouts was a bit hazy. I knew it was in the North Ward, maybe the Castle Ward, but that was about it. Not wanting to let everyone down, I did my best to recall where it was, but I was having great difficulty. We wandered around all over the North Ward and eventually the Castle Ward. The others were beginning to get fed up with my lack of directions, but fortunately, Arthur caught glimpse of what he assumed was the theater and led us over to it.</p><p>Thankfully, the theater he spotted turned out to be the Pink Flumph so we made our way to the front of it. Arthur said the exterior was a bit familiar so it meant we were on the right track at least. The doors were closed and no one was manning the ticket booth out front. When we tried knocking on the entrance, no one came to answer. It made sense as shows didn’t start happening until later in the afternoon anyway. That meant we needed to wait until it was open or find another way to get inside, hopefully one that didn’t involve breaking in. We didn’t exactly have a solid case to justify forcefully breaking into the establishment, only going off a hunch from a vision Arthur had. Since no one wanted to wait around that long, we went around the theater looking for other doors to try. There was a side entrance, but it was locked and no one came to answer it. Behind the theater, we found another entrance that was only meant to be used for actors.</p><p>Seeing as that was the only door left, we decided to give it a try and knocked. We heard movement and voices coming from inside, so that was a good sign. Hopefully that meant someone would answer the door and I wouldn’t be forced to pick a lock I didn’t want to. After anxiously waiting for a few moments, someone thankfully answered the door. She was a half-elf girl and asked if we were there for the show. Arthur, who seemed to be smitten by the cute girl, blurted out that we were. The half-elf then said the entrance we were at was reserved for staff only then redirected us to the front entrance. Before she closed the door, Kailani stopped her then said we were actors and part of the play. We all gave her a dumbfounded look as we obviously were not part of the play. The half-elf girl didn’t buy her lie and called her out on it. Not wanting to lose the opportunity to get inside, I moved to the front of the group and apologized on Kailani’s behalf.</p><p>I told her my partner was just kidding then introduced myself as a detective with the City Watch. The half-elf said her name was Anyssa and asked why we were there. I told her we were investigating reports of local gang activity and needed entry to the establishment. Anyssa thought for a moment then told us to wait while she went to get her manager. She then closed the door and left to go find her, leaving us outside. We waited around for a bit, wondering if the door would ever open again, but fortunately it did.</p><p>Standing in the doorway was a woman fully dressed in some sort of costume or something. It was really… pink… and gaudy. Her name was Iokaste Daliano and she was the owner of the Pink Flumph. When she asked what we wanted, I told her I was a detective with the City Watch and had official business to conduct. We needed to carry out a quick sweep of her establishment to make sure it was clear of any tampering to the foundation by gang-related entities. She then randomly asked if being a detective was a high rank within the City Watch and I said it was up there; becoming a detective was no easy feat. Even after declaring myself as a member of the City Watch, she still wouldn’t allow us entry. In exchange for doing a favor for her, though, she said she’d let us in. I told her I wouldn’t slap her with a hampering justice charge and we’d be even. Jerky then intervened and tried a more diplomatic approach, asking what the favor was.</p><p>Apparently, Iokaste’s husband recently passed away and she was in need of some companionship, or something. She then asked if we happened to know Sergeant Cromley, since we were in the City Watch which he was also a part of. Kailani stepped forward and said she knew him, saying that he was her supervisor. Iokaste was delighted to hear that then abruptly called for Anyssa to come over to her. When Anyssa arrived, Iokaste instructed her to retrieve a front-row ticket for the play that night and to make it quick. Anyssa promptly acknowledged and hurried to get the ticket for her. Iokaste turned back to Kailani and instructed her to give Sergeant Cromley the ticket, and in exchange for that, she’d allow us entry. Kailani promised her she would and took the ticket once Anyssa got back with it. Once the matter was settled, Iokaste left and told us that Anyssa would escort us inside so we could conduct our sweep.</p><p>After Iokaste was gone, we followed Anyssa inside and told her that we specifically needed to search the dressing rooms first. She showed us where they were and led us to a row of seven rooms, which four were open and three were closed. We decided to check the open ones first, and hopefully by the time we were done with those, the remaining ones would be open as well. As we were led from room to room, none of them seemed to be familiar with Arthur. While we were searching, I asked Anyssa if she was aware of any cellar or underground access and she said she wasn’t. After the open rooms were checked, we went with the ones that were still closed. The first room we checked was just like the others and didn’t strike Arthur as noteworthy. Then we came to the last two rooms, one of which belonged to the set designer and the other to one of the leading actresses.</p><p>We decided to try the set designer first and had Anyssa knock on the door. We got no response, so we checked the door to see if it was locked. It was open, so we let ourselves in and were greeted by a forest of fake trees and the overpowering smell of paint. This was indeed the set designer’s room but he was nowhere to be found. Arthur continued inside and looked around, eventually finding someone lying motionless in the corner of the room. He rushed over to see if they were all right but it turned out he was just sleeping. Seeing that the person was unharmed, Arthur returned to us and we let who we assumed was the set designer continue sleeping. After that, we huddled around the door leading into the last room. Anyssa knocked on the door and asked if we could come in.</p><p>The person on the other side shuffled around and told us to give her a brief moment. From the few words I heard her speak, I could tell she had a very beautiful voice. Once she was ready, she opened the door for us and introduced herself as Yaliek Iiltizmer. She was a human and had a very attractive appearance. She was dressed in a robe and slippers, though, she was apparently playing the role of the main villain in the upcoming play and hadn’t fully changed yet. Seeing us there, she asked what we needed her room for.</p><p>I introduced myself once again as a detective with the City Watch and that we were conducting official business. Usually that would’ve been enough, but she seemed to be very inquisitive of our intentions. She continued to ask questions and up to that point, her curiosity hadn’t raised any mental alarms. Without wanting to be rude, I continued to answer them as truthfully as I could without giving away too much information. I had to tailor my responses just right so they didn’t turn into full on lies. I explained that we were investigating reports of gang-related activity that dealt with subterranean meddling. Gangs had been setting up strongholds in the sewers and could possibly have tampered with the Pink Flumph’s foundations. We were just conducting a sweep of the premises to make sure everything was all right. After doing my best to keep things vague yet specific enough to satiate her curiosity, she was eventually satisfied and let us inside her room.</p><p>We all went inside and began looking around. The dressing room Yaliek had was much more extravagant than the others and Arthur recognized it as the one from his vision. Taking that as a good sign, I scrutinized every inch of the floor and came across something odd. There was something strange underneath a section of the carpet, so I crouched down and took out my knife. I cut around the edge of the area in question and created a flap, much to Anyssa’s horror as she witnessed me ruining her boss’s carpet. As I lifted the flap over, I found a trapdoor in the floor beneath it. I called the others over who took a closer look at it. Yaliek was surprised to see it there as well, saying she never noticed it before. After finding the trapdoor, Jerky began to question her a bit more to see if she may have known about it.</p><p>Yaliek did say there were renovations done to the establishment, but they happened before she even started working there, and she had been there for seven years already. As the questioning continued while the rest of us inspected the trapdoor, Jerky’s questions began to get a bit off topic. It eventually ended up in her insinuating that something romantic was happening between Yaliek and Iokaste’s late husband, to which Yaliek vehemently denied. Even though Yaliek admitted that she wasn’t particularly fond of Iokaste, she promised nothing scandalous was happening between her and Iokaste’s husband. She attested that Iokaste was only in it for the money and influence and didn’t care about acting or the craft. She only wanted to mingle with the city’s elite, which I guessed made more sense after thinking back to when we first met Iokaste in person. I had no interest in gossip or rumors, so I didn’t get involved in the conversation since it had nothing to do with the case.</p><p>Before we continued with the inspection of the trapdoor, I asked if Yaliek and Anyssa could wait outside and not let anyone into the room. Whatever was down below could potentially be very dangerous and I didn’t want any civilians getting injured. Anyssa happily obliged but Yaliek just sat down on a nearby couch and said she wanted to watch. I was about to get frustrated as I didn’t want to be discourteous with the lovely woman, but Jerky kindly stepped in and persuaded her to leave for me. Yaliek gave in and got up, taking a glass of wine before following Anyssa to the exit. Once they were outside, Anyssa closed the door behind her. To make sure no one entered, Jerky propped a chair against the door to prevent it from being opened from the outside. Once the room was secured, we continued our examination of the trapdoor we found.</p><p>It didn’t seem to be trapped, so we tried to pull it open but it wouldn’t budge. There wasn’t a lock on it that I could pick so Arthur tried again and again to get it open using brute strength. Eventually, Kailani got a closer look and determined that it was magically secured, possibly with the Arcane Lock spell. Seeing as how none of us could get it open, we were stuck. Admitting defeat for the moment, we decided to leave it be and come back to it later. At that point, we decided to split up to try and find someone to get the lock open as well as a couple of guards to secure the room in the meantime. Arthur and Jerky were going to try and find someone to undo the lock, possibly asking Renaer if he knew anything about it or finding someone within the Order of the Gauntlet to do it. While they were doing that, Kailani and I were going to report back to our superiors with the City Watch and ask for a couple of watchmen to guard the room for us.</p><p>Before leaving, Kailani repaired the carpet using a spell which returned it back to before I cut into it with my dagger. We then let Yaliek back into her room and asked her and Anyssa to keep everything they saw there a secret. Anyssa was more than willing to do so, but Yaliek, being the curious individual she was, had to question our intentions when we asked her to keep things quiet. Kailani and Jerky talked with her and eventually made her promise to keep everything under wraps. Once we had dealt with all that, Anyssa led us to the back entrance where we made our way outside.</p><p>After leaving the Pink Flumph, I went with Kailani back to the station to report in. It had been awhile since we last gave our superiors an update so who knew what lay in wait for us. We had run into a lot of trouble since beginning the investigation, so there was bound to be some fallout from some of that waiting for us there. When we got back to the station, we went over to our desks which were situated right next to each other. On them, we each found piles of papers and notes that had gone long overdue to be read. I stepped over to my desk and looked at the ones on top of the pile, taking a few of them in hand. They were all from Sergeant Cromley and they all said something along the lines of him wanting to see us in his office immediately. The more recent ones were more angrily written and curt with its language. After seeing all the messages, Kailani and I exchanged glances then looked to where Cromley’s office was.</p><p>I told Kailani ladies first, and she begrudgingly took the lead while I followed closely behind her. We made our way over to the office and knocked on the door, waiting for permission to enter. I was surprised he was even given an office after coming back to work, but I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. He was a highly-decorated officer after all, and I guess the office was a sort of consolation for bringing him back after recently retiring. The City Watch must’ve really been hurting for personnel if they had to do that.</p><p>Once we were allowed to enter, Kailani and I stepped inside and stood in front of the desk situated in the center of the room. I was perfectly calm with my hands casually stuffed into my coat pockets while Kailani, on the other hand, was standing there beside me stiff as a board. Cromley just sat there, pouring over the numerous reports involving us and the activities we were involved in. After standing there for a few moments, he finally spoke up and directly asked for our badges. There was only a slight moment of concern, but it was fleeting. I just smiled and handed over my badge, jokingly asking if we were getting promoted. The sergeant didn’t reply and looked to Kailani who, like always, was overly worried as she took off her badge and placed it on his desk. Cromley took the badges in hand and looked at them before turning his attention to us.</p><p>Cromley asked us what the badges meant or signified, showing us the badges he was holding. I can’t remember what Kailani said, probably giving him some textbook answer, but I said it was a symbol of justice or something along those lines. After giving him our answers, he then went on to berate us about all the ways we hadn’t performed up to that standard, citing examples from our most recent escapades. Every time Kailani tried to defend herself, Cromley interrupted her and gave another example of how she and I were abusing the law.</p><p>Once I got an opportunity to do so, I spoke up on Kailani’s behalf to justify ourselves. It wasn’t fair that she was getting hounded so much for things we both did. I looked Cromley in the eye and told him all the positive things we managed to accomplish. We solved the rogue Nimblewright problem and managed to dispatch it. We also took out a dangerous necromancer before he could unleash his unspeakable horror upon the innocent citizens of Waterdeep. Despite all that we had done for the sake of justice, Cromley still wanted to reprimand us somehow.</p><p>Thankfully, Cromley took it easy on us and only requested that we take a couple days of leave to cool off. I thought it was bull, but I acknowledged him and didn’t retort. Kailani, though, was on the verge of tears after just getting a slap on the wrist. After that was out of the way, Cromley asked why we were there back at the station. He figured we needed something if we happened to show up all of a sudden.</p><p>Kailani finally got a grip on herself and asked if he could spare a couple of watchmen to guard an area for us, the area in question being Yaliek’s dressing room at the Pink Flumph. After Cromley asked for more information, she then explained, without giving too much away, what we had found and why we needed the assistance. When she was done, I told him he could use all the help he could get and that he should give us our badges back. He gave me a stern look and scolded me slightly, not caring at all for my snide remarks. After giving it some thought, he decided to give back our badges and told us to continue on with the investigation. He wanted it done quickly and by the numbers. Before he allowed us to go, he wanted us to take care of all the overdue paperwork we had put off, putting all the reports on his desk once we had written them up. Lastly, he told us to watch ourselves and that we were treading on thin ice.</p><p>I graciously thanked him before taking my leave, allowing Kailani to exit first. I then slowly closed the door behind me then looked to my partner. I gave her a reassuring smile, saying that getting chewed out wasn’t so bad. She just glared at me and proceeded to head back to our desks. I followed her back and took a seat at my desk, watching as she sat down and began to go through the pile of papers on her desk. As she started to work, she told me my big mouth was going to get us into some serious trouble one day. I was about to respond with my own witty remark, but I bit my tongue and just smiled to myself. It was best not to piss her off while she tried to work or else she’d get nothing done.</p><p>We spent most of the afternoon working on our reports as we sat at our desks, recalling everything that happened since we first walked into the Evergreen Tavern together. Before we started, we agreed to leave out any mention of the Stone of Golorr and the secrets it held. I had no trouble at all writing my reports, hitting all the main points I had to while remaining vague enough to still remain truthful. Kailani, on the other hand, was having a hard time coming up with ways to write her reports while also leaving out the information we agreed upon. Once I was done with my work, I took my chair and moved it over to Kailani’s desk, sitting down beside her. I gave her a hand where I could, showing her some tips and tricks that helped me when writing my own reports. It reminded me of the old days when we were just starting out on the force. Even though my heart would always belong to Kaz, I sometimes found myself yearning for the simpler times of when Kailani and I were still together. Perhaps it was just my broken heart aching for companionship again. Once she had a good feel for the writing, I went back to the Evergreen Tavern and retrieved the three bear traps and the Bugbear’s mace to turn in to the evidence room. After we were done with our work, we headed over to the Evergreen Tavern to see if the others had accomplished what they had set out to do.</p><p>When we got back to the tavern, Arthur and Jerky were already there waiting for us. They told us they sent a message to Renaer and wanted to arrange a meeting with him. They also met with the Order of the Gauntlet but weren’t able to get much assistance. Since Arthur was able to ask the stone another question, he headed back upstairs to try it again. Kailani and I followed him up while Jerky remained down below to wait for Renaer’s arrival if he decided to show up. Once Arthur was ready, he went into his trance-like state while Kailani and I watched over him. When he came to, he told us that the first key was something he didn’t touch, but instead it touched him. He also mentioned that there hadn’t been much of it lately. Kailani and I were stumped as to what it meant, so we all headed back downstairs to regroup with Jerky.</p><p>Renaer still hadn’t arrived as Jerky was still sitting by herself at one of the tables. We went over to her and told her the answer to the question that Arthur had asked the stone. She was stumped as well so we all thought on it for a bit.</p><p>While we were thinking about the riddles and clues the stone had given us so far, someone brought up the notion a card game we could play. It was a simple card game, which I forgot the name of, and it consisted of three cards and several rounds of betting. The objective of the game was to see who got the highest number using their three cards. Each played got three cards, one facing up so that everyone could see and two facing down that only the owner could see. Before everyone got their cards, there was a round of betting. Everyone had to bet the same amount, so if someone raised the bet, everyone had to match them in order to proceed to the next phase of the game. After receiving their cards, they would bet again before revealing their second card, then finally once more before revealing the final card. The player with the highest number won the entire pot.</p><p>Since we were more or less stumped as to what the clues Golorr had given us meant, we decided to take a nice break from things to help clear our minds. Someone found some playing cards for us and we began to play. For the first game, all four of us were playing and bet a couple of shards to start things off with. After getting our cards, I felt like I got a losing hand and wouldn’t be competitive enough to win, so I folded along with Kailani. We lost our initial bet of two shards each, but that was all right. Jerky and Arthur continued playing and Arthur ended up winning the first game.</p><p>Our revelries, but mostly Kailani being her loud and rambunctious self, got the attention of the patrons inside the tavern and drew a crowd of onlookers. For the next game, three patrons from the crowd joined us and sat down at our table to play. They included a dwarf and two humans, one with brown hair and one who was blonde. We all made our bets in the initial round and awaited our cards. After getting my hand, I again felt like I wasn’t going to win, so I folded to not lose anymore coin. The dwarf and the human with the brown hair also folded in the first round. Everyone else continued on to the second round where Jerky and the blonde-haired human folded. It was Kailani and Arthur in the finals and Kailani ended up winning that game.</p><p>The crowd around us was in high spirits and the other players with us encouraged another game. I wasn’t having too much luck, so I sat that one out. The others continued playing and made their bets during the next game’s initial round. After the cards were dealt, Kailani, Jerky, and the blonde-haired human bowed out. Arthur, the dwarf, and the brown-haired human continued on with Arthur winning that game. After that, the other players that joined us said they only had enough left for one more game, so I rejoined the players and decided to play the last one. The last game was a bit too rich for my tastes so I ended up folding as did Jerky and Kailani. That left Arthur, the dwarf, and the two other human males to duel it out in the finals. In the end, Arthur came out victorious and won the large sum of coins that were in the betting pot. Everyone seemed to have had a good time and dispersed, heading back to their previous spots around the bar. The others and I decided to call it a night and went our separate ways.</p><p>Kailani had been drinking a lot, so I decided to walk her home to make sure she got there okay. I helped her navigate the dark, nighttime streets of Waterdeep all the way back to her home. She lived in a shack by the coast in the Sea Ward, away from the hustle and bustle of the busy city. The walk was mostly quiet except for the occasional random thing Kailani would say in her semi-drunken state. When we got back to her place, I made sure she was able to get inside before leaving her. As she unlocked the door, I made sure she was all right before taking my leave, heading back to my own apartment in the Castle Ward.</p><p>In the morning, I headed back to the Evergreen Tavern to meet up with the others. Hopefully Kailani wasn’t feeling too sick and managed to get there on her own. When I arrived at the tavern, I took a moment to say a prayer for Kaz and went over to the remembrance tree in front of the tavern. It was donated by a close friend of one of the deceased Evergreen Tavern owners. It was meant to remember all those who had died at Gralhund Villa to include Kaz. I got on my knees and said a prayer for my beloved, reassuring her that I had not forgotten her and that I would avenge her properly. As I was finishing up my prayer, I noticed Kailani walk passed me and sit on the steps leading into the tavern.</p><p>I said goodbye to Kaz then got up, stepping over towards Kailani. I asked her what she was up to and she said she was just waiting around. I asked her if Jerky had shown up yet and she said no, so I decided to stand outside with her. While we were waiting outside, a nice looking carriage pulled up in front of the tavern and stopped. We looked to the carriage to see what was going to happen then someone finally stepped out of the passenger compartment. It was a human male with a portly appearance and wearing fancy attire. I wasn’t familiar with the man but Kailani seemed to be as she stood up and went over to greet him. I walked over to the two and Kailani introduced the man as Mirt, a high-ranking individual within the Harper organization. I had heard of the Harpers, but never had met anyone like him before. Then I found out that Kailani was a Harper as well, which caught me by surprise as I had no idea. After the introductions, Kailani, Mirt, and I headed into the tavern to continue our conversation.</p><p>Arthur was already inside and sat down at a table with us once he noticed us come in. When we were all situated, we began to ask Mirt questions relating to our cause. Jerky wasn’t present yet, but we decided to go on without her; we figured she’d show up eventually. Anyway, while we talked with Mirt, we learned more about Xanathar the Beholder, the vault of Dagult Neverember, Laeral Silverhand who was the current Open Lord of Waterdeep, and Remallia Haventree who was a high-ranking Harper. Mirt suggested that if we were going to open the vault, we should find Xanathar himself and take him out before we did so. He was aware that Xanathar’s Guild was hunting us down and causing us problems. Mirt said that opening the vault would anger Xanathar and cause him and his followers to come after us which would make securing the vault’s contents very difficult. If we caught him by surprise and neutralized him before opening the vault, we would have a much easier time. With regards to the vault, Mirt told us that there was rumored to be around 500,000 gold dragons stored within, which was a ludicrous amount of gold to be kept all in one place. He told us that if we wanted to kill Xanathar, he’d try and find the location of his lair for us. He suspected that it was underneath Waterdeep somewhere, but he wasn’t sure about its exact location.</p><p>Mirt also told us about one of his associates that might be able to help us with our magically locked trapdoor situation. Her name was Remallia Haventree and she was a very powerful magic user within the Harpers. He assured us she’d probably be willing to help us unlock the door and maybe even help fight Xanathar… for a price. She was a force for good and would jump on the opportunity to defend Waterdeep and its citizens against threats to their well-being, but she’d want a reward for doing it- a substantial reward. Kailani said she received a message from Remallia last night that she was actually going to meet her, but instead Mirt showed up which was a bit odd, but she thought nothing of it.</p><p>While he was there, Mirt looked to Arthur and reminded him that he still owed him a debt, the amount being 1,100 gold dragons. Arthur looked around, and since he had the tavern’s financial records that Kaz had left behind, he managed to scrounge up what was owed and gave it to Mirt. Mirt took the large sum of money and thanked Arthur for doing business. While Mirt and Arthur were taking care of that piece of business, Jerky finally arrived and joined us at the table.</p><p>We filled Jerky in on what we had talked about with Mirt, and while we were doing that, another person entered through the tavern’s front door. She was an elf wearing fine clothes and carrying herself with a certain air of prestige and refinement. She noticed Mirt and the rest of us and headed over to our table. When she did, she introduced herself as Remallia Haventree and greeted us with a welcoming smile. Kailani seemed to know her as she was a bit flustered by her sudden appearance. Did she look up to her or something? I couldn’t quite tell. Mirt was a bit taken aback as well by seeing her there and welcomed her to sit down with us.</p><p>Before he left, I asked Mirt if he was familiar with a person named Kazuhara Kobayashi or Castel Cupidski, wondering if he knew Kaz. Since I found a letter from the Harpers amongst her possessions with his name on it, I figured he must’ve known something. Mirt said he was familiar with her and when I asked if she was a Harper, he said yes, she was. I then asked if he knew any specifics about her death but alas, he wasn’t; though, he did say he’d look into it and get back to me if he found out anything. I thanked him before he left the tavern and got back in his carriage.</p><p>After Mirt left, Remallia asked Kailani to speak with her in private, so the two of them found a secluded table to talk for a few moments. Meanwhile, Jerky, Arthur, and I watched the two from afar, wondering what they were talking about. Eventually, Kailani came back over to us and filled us in on what she and Remallia talked about. She informed us that Remallia was willing to help us in exchange for fifteen percent of what was inside Lord Neverember’s hidden vault. Remallia said she’d open the magical trapdoor for us and even aid in the battle against Xanathar. If my math was correct, if the vault did indeed contain 500,000 dragons, Remallia was going to be walking away with 75,000 of them if we gave her the fifteen percent we promised her, which is a lot. Kailani had already mentioned fifteen percent, so we figured that’d have to do.</p><p>If the rumors were true, and the gold Lord Neverember hid away was the city’s gold to begin with, I hoped to return it back to Waterdeep once we opened the vault. The gold was not ours to keep as Lord Neverember supposedly got exiled because he embezzled all that gold from the city and its citizens to begin with. But if Remallia wanted fifteen percent of it, it could potentially cause a problem, though, I guess we’d have to deal with that when and if we ever reached that point. First we had to kill a Beholder, find the three keys to open the vault, then find and open the vault itself. These feats were easier said than done and we were very far away from accomplishing either of them.</p><p>Once we were done talking amongst ourselves, Kailani beckoned Remallia over to tell her the decision we came to. When she came over and sat at our table, we told her that we’d hire her services in exchange for the fifteen percent of the gold that Kailani had mentioned earlier. Remallia accepted the offer and looked forward to working with us. She then asked Kailani if she had any magical papers to contact her with when it came time to fight Xanathar. Kailani looked into her backpack but couldn’t find them since Arthur had stolen them earlier when she wasn’t looking. Remallia said it wasn’t a problem and handed her another sheet to use.</p><p>While Remallia and Kailani were talking, Arthur happened to notice a rat scurrying about in the distance. Wanting to show off for us, he took a dagger and hurled it at the rat which managed to graze it slightly. Just as he hit the rat, it seemed to morph and transform into a human woman lying on the floor who was covered in dirt and filth. Seeing the injured woman with a scratch on her arm, Kailani got up to see if she needed any help. Shortly after the woman had polymorphed and noticed Kailani coming right at her, she changed once again and transformed into a human-rat hybrid. After the transformation was complete, she appeared to be a Wererat and stood up to attack.</p><p>Seeing that it was hostile, the others -including Remallia- and I prepared for a fight and engaged it. I tried to talk to it and get it to surrender, but all the Wererat did was hiss at me and continue to act hostile. While we were fighting, two more rats appeared and transformed fully into Wererats. One seemed to be a younger male while the other was an older male. I wanted the group to try and take at least one alive, but it was no use. All three of the Wererats were killed in the ensuing combat, leaving no one left to interrogate, that is, if we were even able to interrogate them in the first place. They didn’t seem to speak Common, so talking with them would’ve proven difficult. During the fight, I got bit but didn’t seem to catch whatever disease or affliction they were carrying. Arthur and Jerky weren’t so lucky. They had gotten bit as well and seemed to have contracted something from the Wererats. The area around the bite was black and infected-looking. While the others tended to their wounds the best they could, I checked the dead Wererats for anything useful but came up short.</p><p>Once the hostilities were over, Remallia looked to Arthur’s and Jerky’s wounds and told them they had contracted a form of lycanthropy. She said they’d fully turn into Wererats after a few days if their wounds hadn’t been treated. If they decided to keep the lycanthropy, they’d be able to transform into rats and Wererats. The first time they changed, though, would be difficult and hard to control. Jerky tried to transform right then and there into rat but had no success. Remallia said she could heal them but it would take a day or so. She’d return later if they still required her assistance, free of charge. She reiterated that she’d help us with our plight then took her leave.</p><p>While the tavern staff went about cleaning the aftermath and piling the bodies for the City Watch to handle, the others and I went upstairs to continue talking about the three keys needed to open the vault. Arthur took the stone and decided to ask it a question since the stone had recharged some of its uses. He asked it something along the lines of if the keys were physical objects that he could touch. The stone replied that some were but not all were physical.</p><p>Still a bit confused, Arthur asked the stone another question which went something like what would it look like if the first key was touching him. Arthur went into his trance-like state then came out, saying that he saw a vision of him and his father training when he was younger. The vision seemed to highlight him sweating, the heat, and the sun. After getting that bit of information, we thought a bit more on it. Then it hit me. Was the first key… sunlight? I mean, it made sense with the clues we were given. Golorr said that it was something that we didn’t touch, but instead touched us and there hadn’t been a lot of it lately. We couldn’t touch the sun, but its sunlight could touch us and it had been cloudy and foggy lately, so there wasn’t much sunlight out. And then there was the vision of Arthur sweating while training in the sunlight. It had to be sunlight. When I voiced my theory to the others, they seemed to agree with the answer.</p><p>Since Arthur still had one question left for the day, he decided to ask the stone one last one He asked a question that had something to do with the second key. He asked what the activity others could do that he couldn’t looked like which was required to open the vault door. The stone answered by first giving Arthur a riddle before changing to a memory of a fancy bar he had been to weeks ago. In the bar, he saw two dwarves, one of which had a bagpipe. After he told us what he was shown, we figured out that the riddle he was first shown was actually a verse to a song, but we couldn’t remember what it was called or the rest of the lyrics. Arthur took a piece of paper and wrote down the verse and anything else that seemed relevant enough to write down. Seeing as we had another lead, we left the tavern to investigate it further. Before leaving, Kailani gave Cragnar one of her magical pieces of paper, telling him to send her a message if Renaer came by the tavern.</p><p>We traveled through the city and went to the best tavern Arthur remembered visiting: the Gentle Mermaid. The establishment had the reputation of being the best tavern and gambling hall in Waterdeep while some even postulated in all of Faerun. When we arrived there, we saw a large structure that was four-stories tall and took up an entire city-block of real estate. Every time I saw it, I was thoroughly impressed. It had five foot walls all around the perimeter with archers guarding it and armed guards protecting the only entrance inside. It was a very secure venue which meant patrons were allowed to freely carry weapons while on the premises; no one would dare strike up any trouble with all the security around, or so they figured. The exterior of the building was lavishly decorated which meant the inside was equally if not more extravagantly furnished.</p><p>After we had a nice view of the Gentle Mermaid from the outside, we proceeded on to see what it was like on the inside. I had been there once or twice before, but it was mostly to investigate a case I was working. I had never been there by myself for personal reasons. We made our way inside and looked around for an area where live music was being played. Arthur thought he heard music and went over to investigate. It was coming from a lower level which was blocked off and guarded by a half-orc wearing very fine armor. At first, Arthur wanted me to use my influence as a City Watch detective to get us by the guard, but I told him that wasn’t how things worked. We weren’t there on anything remotely related to official business, so I didn’t feel comfortable abusing my status as a City Watch detective, especially after getting chewed out by Sergeant Cromley yesterday. I suggested we just go up to him and ask if we could get through, or at least find out more about what was going on down there. Kailani wanted to bribe our way through but I was completely against that. Arthur then gave her a couple of gold dragons to gamble with so we would look more inconspicuous.</p><p>While Jerky waited with Kailani who was figuring out what to use the dragons to gamble on, Arthur and I approached the half-orc guarding the way down to the next level. The guard told us we weren’t allowed entry as there was a private event being held downstairs all day. He then redirected us to see one of the managers over in the main area by the bar. She’d be better equipped to answer our questions regarding the musical performers there.</p><p>Unable to get by, but glad no confrontation came of it, Arthur and I left and went over to the bar in the main area. There was human man and a half-elf woman working at the bar. The woman was using her magic to send drinks to her customers once she had filled them. That explained all the floating mugs around us. When we came over to then, Arthur, who was again smitten by the attractive half-elf’s beautiful features, asked if she was the manager. The woman stopped what she was doing and looked down to see Arthur addressing her. She said she wasn’t the manager then left to go get her from the back.</p><p>Eventually, an older human woman came over to where we were at the bar and introduced herself as Greta, the manager in charge of the musical performances at the Gentle Mermaid. Arthur asked her if she had anyone that worked for her who played the bagpipe. She told us that her musicians played a wide variety of instruments which could possibly include the bagpipe. After we said that we needed to talk with them, she left to go get someone who would only escort Arthur down to meet them. Shortly after Greta left, she returned with one of the Gentle Mermaid’s heads of security, a gentleman by the name of Grom. While he took Arthur to meet with the musicians, I left to go find the Kailani and Jerky to gamble a bit.</p><p>I noticed a Roulette table in the gambling section and went over. Kailani must’ve spotted me because she came over to the table as well and stood beside me. As the next round of betting started, I bet two dragons on black. The ball continued to spin around the device and ended up landing on a black number, meaning I won the amount I bet. I took the four dragons I won, which included my initial bet, and decided once was enough. Seeing that I had won, Kailani decided to give it a shot and bet two dragons on black as well. Unfortunately, the ball landed on a red number which meant she lost.</p><p>After watching Roulette for a bit, I followed Kailani over to a table that had the same card game we played last night. Jerky was there as well and the two ladies decided to try their hand at it. I abstained and just stood behind them, watching to see how they fared. For the first game, Jerky ended up winning while Kailani lost. For the second game, Jerky ended up losing while Kailani won. After that, they decided to play one more game and they both ended up winning. Once they had their fix of gambling, we left to see if Arthur had come back with any information. We headed back to the bar where we first split up and saw Arthur waiting there for us.</p><p>We made our way over to Arthur and he told us what he managed to find out. He was able to meet up with a couple of dwarven musicians, whose names were Bromthram and Galgrum, and talked with them for a bit. One of them was a singer and one was a bagpipe player. Arthur then showed them the piece of paper with the lyrics on it and asked if it seemed familiar to them. The singer read it over and recognized it as the first verse of one of his favorite songs. It was an old dwarven song called “Your Beardy Face” and it was usually sung after a hard-fought battle or something like that. He told us that there didn’t seem to be any underlying significance to the song and had no magical ties associated with it. He then took out a piece of parchment from them that had their contact information on it. Kailani took it and looked it over before pocketing it for future reference. If we needed to hire them to sing the song, we’d know where to find them.</p><p>While we were talking at the bar, a paper bird came over to us while flapping its wings then landed on the bar’s countertop next to Jerky and Kailani. They both reached for it at the same time to see what it said, but Jerky got to it first and opened it up. The message was from Renaer and it said that he was waiting for the group back at Evergreen Tavern. Since we were done with our business at the Gentle Mermaid, we decided to split up to tackle separate objectives. Arthur and Jerky were going to head back to the tavern to meet with Renaer. Meanwhile, Kailani and I were going to Mirt’s house to take care of a personal errand for her.</p><p>After leaving the Gentle Mermaid, I followed Kailani to Mirt’s estate. When, we got there, we were greeted by one of Mirt’s servants who took us to a smaller building off to the side within the estate. He chauffeured us inside and had us sit in a waiting room while he went to get his master. We waited for a bit on a couch together until Mirt entered the room and sat down across from us. Once he was ready, Kailani and he got straight to business. Apparently, Kailani needed some quick gold and asked Mirt if she could take out a large loan from him consisting of 1,000 gold dragons. She must’ve got the idea from Arthur after she learned he had taken out a similar loan from Mirt. I looked to her and she said it was for something that would help the team in the long run, especially if we were going to fight against Xanathar. Considering that we were going after the large sum of dragons tucked away in Lord Neverember’s vault, Mirt acquiesced her request, figuring she’d be able to pay him back in no time once we achieved our end goal. I guess he waved any interest on the loan since they were both Harpers, or something like that.</p><p>Once Kailani had the loan in hand, which consisted of five platinum suns, she thanked Mirt and left the estate. As we were leaving Mirt’s residence, Kailani told me she wanted to make another stop before rejoining the others at Evergreen Tavern. We then headed back to Fantasy Costco where I previously got my new ring and armor. The last time we were there, she apparently had reserved a specific item and had put down an initial payment for it. She just needed the rest of the amount which she finally had thanks to Mirt’s loan. When we arrived, she went inside and finished paying for the item she had her eye on. It was a magical book called the Tome of Leadership and Influence. I had no idea how it worked but Kailani was very happy to finally have it in her hands. Once she received it from the clerk, she opened it up and began reading its contents.</p><p>Still with her face buried in the pages of the book, Kailani began to make her way to the exit, narrowly missing bumping into things as she walked. I let out a sigh and hurried after her, acting as her guide to make sure she didn’t run into anything on our way back to the tavern. I walked alongside her, occasionally tugging on her sleeve to redirect her so she didn’t hit anything while we walked. We managed to get back to the tavern without any incident and headed inside.</p><p>We found Jerky and Arthur sitting at a table, talking with another gentleman whom I didn’t recognize. He was a male human with red hair and common-looking attire. Once we had made our way over to them, Arthur introduced the individual to us as Renaer Neverember. I shook hands with him and sat down at the table as did Kailani who was still focused on reading her book. We continued to talk about matters relating to the vault, gauging his intentions about us potentially getting our hands on the vast amount of wealth inside it. We mentioned that we hired Remallia Haventree and he said he had no major problems with her joining the fight. In the end, Renaer vowed his services to us and said he’d fight alongside us if we decided to fight Xanathar. Once we were done talking with him, Renaer left to return home.</p><p>After he was gone, we remained at the table and continued talking amongst ourselves. Suddenly, the front door swung open as two individuals hurried inside the tavern. It was the leader of the Order of the Gauntlet, a human female by the name of Savra Belabranta, and an associate of hers, a meister by the looks of it. She got a message that Jerky had sent her earlier which said that she and Arthur had contracted something from a Wererat and needed help. Savra went over to Arthur and Jerky and inspected their wounds. She then beckoned her subordinate over and had him heal their wounds, which he did very easily. After that, they no longer had to worry about the lycanthropy they contracted and no longer were able to transform into rats.</p><p>Once their wounds were healed, Arthur and Jerky asked Savra if she had some time to listen to a preposition they had for her. Savra obliged and followed them upstairs to one of the rooms above the tavern to talk. Meanwhile, I remained downstairs in the tavern with Kailani and the meister. Kailani continued to read her book non-stop while the meister enjoyed the mug of ale one of the staff had given him. After a bit of waiting, Arthur, Jerky, and Savra returned to the tavern. Savra called the meister over and they took their leave, heading back to the Order’s headquarters. Arthur and Jerky came back over to the table I was sitting at and said that Savra would lend a hand against Xanathar if we needed it, which was good. The more, the merrier I supposed. Going up against a powerful entity like Xanathar was going to be no easy task.</p><p>It was late at night, so we decided to call it a day and reconvene in the morning. Jerky was the first to leave and went back home to the hotel she was staying at. I decided to stay around a bit more and wait for Kailani to leave so I could walk her home. It was dark out and with all the gang activity in the city, I didn’t feel comfortable leaving Kailani alone to roam the streets by herself at night. When she was finally ready to go, Kailani got up and began heading for the exit with the book still in her hands. Seeing her leave, I got up as well and followed after her, wishing Arthur a goodnight before I left. Kailani made her way outside and began walking away, so I hurried after her and began walking alongside her, making sure she didn’t run into a lamppost or something. The route we were taking wasn’t going to bring us back to her house, so I wondered where she was going. Eventually, we arrived at the City Watch station where she went in. I followed her inside and I ended up escorting her all the way back to her desk. She said she was going to stay there for the night and continue reading her book. At least by being in the station, she’d be relatively safe as she focused on her studies, she figured. I asked if she needed anything but she didn’t respond. Before leaving, I told her not to overexert herself and that I’d be back in the morning to check up on her. Seeing that she was still focused on her new book, I gave her a smile then left to return back to my apartment to get some sleep.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Trolltide</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After waking up the next morning, I got ready and headed out. Before making my way to the station, I decided to get some tea for Kailani in case she needed a boost to wake up. I just hoped she got some sleep at least. After getting some tea from a place along the way, I headed over to the station and went inside. It was still morning, so it wasn’t as busy as it usually got. When I went over to our desks, I found Kailani awake and seemingly in the same exact position I last saw her in. As I got closer to her, I noticed she already had a cup of tea which meant she at least took a break during her reading. I went over to her and placed the new cup of tea on her desk beside the old one, wishing her a good morning. She didn’t respond but she did take a sip from the tea I had brought her. I told her that we could head over to the tavern together when she was ready, so while I waited, I sat down at my desk beside her.</p><p>Since I was already there, I took care of some administrative work while I waited and cleaned up my desk a little, though, my desk was normally pretty clean and organized. Every time I looked over at Kailani, she’d still be skimming the contents of her book line by line, occasionally taking a sip from one of the cups of tea in front of her. When she was finally ready to go, she stood up and began to leave the station. I got up from my desk as well and picked up the fresher of the two cups of tea from her desk before following after her. I walked alongside Kailani, guiding her through the streets with a nudge or tug on the sleeve like before.</p><p>As we were walking, I began to notice large concentrations of people in the middle of the street wearing bright clothing and costume-like attire. Among them were shorter figures all wearing Goblin masks and dressed in similar clothing. There were also puddles all around us on the road, so I began to get suspicious as flashbacks of a previous encounter came to mind. Finding it odd, I redirected Kailani to another side road or alleyway to bypass them on our way to Evergreen Tavern. Then, just after changing directions, we’d run into another group of people in costumes then another. After a while, Kailani noticed all the deviations in the path we were taking and stopped to see what was going on. Seeing her halt abruptly, I stopped as well and told her what I had been seeing during our walk.</p><p>Kailani looked around and sighed, telling me it was Trolltide. I had completely lost track of time and didn’t realize it was one of Waterdeep’s most prominent holiday’s that day. Trolltide was a fun, springtime holiday for the denizens of the city where there was a big emphasis on pranks, which were mainly carried out by children. Kids roamed about asking people for a treat, and if they didn’t get one, they usually carried out a prank on the person by doing something mischievous. Most of the time, the pranks were harmless, but sometimes they got out of hand; I had to investigate a few pranks gone wrong during my tenure as a City Watch watchman.</p><p>Seeing that it was Trolltide, Kailani wanted to get some treats to pass out to any kids we came across. She went from food stall to food stall, being an item or two from each one we passed by. Eventually, she had a wide assortment of treats to give out which was all placed in a large sack that I had to carry. She had bought chocolates, candied apples, and a bunch of other treats. After getting the sugary delights, she decided she wanted to get a costume as well.</p><p>Kailani kept an eye open for a clothing store that sold costume items and found two right across the street from one another. One was a high-end shop that sold all sorts of finely made articles of clothing. The other store was a thrift store of sorts, selling lower-end items at a fair price. I was just glad Kailani was taking a break from her book so I didn’t mind if she made a little detour; she looked beat from all the reading she was doing. She decided to head into the fancier store first so I followed her in. She said she wanted to be a witch so she looked around to find a hat, cape, and other pieces of witch-looking clothing. Unfortunately, she was almost broke after buying her book, so she only managed to buy a hat. I was about to offer to buy her something else, but before I could, she had already paid for the hat and left the store. She then went inside the thrift-store across the street so I quickly followed after her. There, she picked up a small kit of black makeup. After she paid for it and cleaned it up some using magic, she went back outside and applied some of it to her face. Once she was done, we continued on our way.</p><p>When we arrived at Evergreen Tavern, we saw that it had been decorated some just for the occasion. There was also a woman outside wearing a costume and sitting on a stool. She had a cauldron in front of her filled with candied apples to pass out to people that visited the tavern. Upon entering the interior of the tavern, we saw more staff decorating the inside with all sorts of Trolltide-related items. I spotted Arthur and Jerky sitting at a table, so I went over to them while Kailani passed out treats to every tavern staff member she saw. Cragnar came over and got us all some breakfast to eat which included generous helpings of bacon, eggs, and sausage.</p><p>During our meals, Kailani remarked to no one in particular that she needed some money and that she was near broke. Upon hearing that, Arthur reached into his coin purse and pulled out a handful of random coins, placing it on the table and pushing it towards Kailani to take. Arthur said she could just have it, so Kailani took it after just a brief moment of hesitation. He then tried to give me some, but I kindly denied it as Kailani should have.</p><p>After we had eaten some of our meals, we all discussed what we should do next regarding the search for the keys. Once we had something for Arthur to ask, he consulted the stone and asked it a question. This time, he asked something along the lines of what does the key look like that he can get at the marketplace or a merchant’s stall that can be used to open the vault.</p><p>While Arthur was in his trance, Kailani had the mischievous idea to use her black makeup on his face while he was defenseless. Normally, I would’ve been against such childish things, but since it was a holiday and the prank was harmless enough, I let Kailani proceed unhindered. She took her makeup kit and crept over to Arthur who was completely unaware of her intentions. Just as she was about to place her makeup brush on his face, she felt a sharp pain as she held her head, backing away from Arthur. The pain continued for a few moments, and after it subsided, Kailani just picked up her book and makeup kit then sat at another table by herself. When Jerky and I asked what had happened, she told us that the Aboleth had stopped her and was actively protecting Arthur while he was in his vulnerable state.</p><p>Once he was done consulting with the Aboleth, Arthur told us what Golorr had showed him. He had visions or memories of a couple different scenes. The first vision he had was of Evergreen Tavern. He saw Cragnar bringing a small barrel of alcohol over to a table and began to serve drinks with it. The next vision Arthur saw was of a marketplace in the wintertime. It was filled with vendors and one of them was selling hot wine and ale. That was all he could remember. There was a unique symbol on the sign above the store selling the hot wine, but he couldn’t specifically recall it. After he was done telling us all that, we told him what happened with Kailani when she was confronted by the Aboleth. Arthur then got up and went over to Kailani’s table, healing whatever mental injuries she received because of the stone. When he came back over, we discussed the most recent clue we were given and figured the third key must have been some sort of alcohol. Since we had two more questions left to ask for the day, the four of us went upstairs to continue on.</p><p>Kailani went to go check up on Ogga, her Kobold hireling, while Jerky and I watched over Arthur as he asked his questions. He asked the stone if alcohol was the third key then if the song “Your Beardy Face” was the second one. The stone replied and said that we needed not just any old alcohol, but the finest alcohol in all of Faerun. As for the second key, Golorr said we needed the song to be performed in its truest form, which meant we probably had to hire the dwarf performers since it was a dwarven song after all. After he told us everything, we all discussed what to do next. Since we had a clearer idea of what we needed for the third key, we decided to head out to the marketplace. We were going to see if we could find a shop selling fine alcohol that had a unique symbol on its sign. While we were eating breakfast earlier, Cragnar mentioned an event happening in the marketplace for Trolltide as well, so we might as well check that out while we were there. Once we had a plan of action, we headed out.</p><p>Kailani was waiting outside the room for us then went to go get Ogga before we headed into town. Ogga had taken over Gix’s old room and had turned it into a pigsty, well, more of a pigsty than it used to be. Kailani wanted him to tag along with us since it was Trolltide and he wouldn’t stick out as much if he didn’t wear a disguise. That way, he could get some fresh air and stretch his legs. After she had gotten him, we left the tavern and made our way over to the outdoor marketplace in the Trades Ward.</p><p>When we got to the Castle Ward, we found the area where the Trolltide festival was being held. We saw a corral of sorts with a cage in the middle of it. The cage was covered with a cloth sheet and there seemed to be something inside. As we continued to walk around the area, we saw several carnival games and attractions but no sign of an alcohol shop with a symbol on the sign. Since we couldn’t find what we were looking for, we decided to check out the festivities while we were there before continuing on.</p><p>Among the games we found were a sack throwing game and an archery challenge game. For the sack throwing game, the player had to pick up a sack filled with something heavy then toss it into a wooden bin behind them. For the archery game, the player had to hit an apple with an arrow to win a prize. The apple was tied to a string and swung back in forth in front of the player, making it more difficult to hit. Next to the games was a large tent with a row of tables situated on a stage, and on top of the tables were piles of delicious-smelling pies. The sweet aroma caught Arthur’s attention as he went over to try and get one to eat. There wasn’t anyone around to sell them and it didn’t look like a normal pie vendor. Instead, it looked more like the setting for a pie-eating contest, so I pulled Arthur back by his cape and told him what it was. I told him if he wanted some pie that he should sign up to participate.</p><p>Arthur seemed up to the challenge, so we found the sign-up table and got him registered. While he was signing up, Kailani bet me five copper nibs that he’d throw up during the competition. Arthur was a strong eater and I had confidence in him, so I took her up on the bet and wagered five copper nibs as well. There was still a bit of time before the start of the competition, so I decided to roam around while Kailani found a spot in the audience to sit down with Ogga.</p><p>I found myself at the archery challenge game and decided to give it a shot. I talked with the attendant and picked up the bow, paying two copper nibs for a single arrow. It had been a while since I shot a bow and arrow, the last time being all the way back in the Academy I think. I tried to remember my limited training with the weapon and nocked the arrow I was given, taking a wide and firm stance. I drew back the bowstring to my cheek and aimed the best I could, watching the apple swing back and forth in front of me. Once I felt like I had a lock on the target, I drew in a deep breath then loosed my arrow. The projectile flew true and found its mark dead center on the apple, piercing right through it and hitting the wall of hay behind the target. I exhaled with relief and saw the gaping hole in the apple as it stopped swinging. Another attendant down range came over and inspected the apple, relaying back to me and the attendant next to me that I had hit it. For my prize, I had a choice of a doll, a candied apple, or an arrow. I thought about getting something for Kailani, but I didn’t think she was into dolls and she had more snacks than she could carry, so I decided to get myself an arrow, my arrow to be exact. I asked if I could have the arrow I shot and the attendant obliged. He then told his co-worker to retrieve it for me which he did after digging around in the hay for it. He eventually found it, or perhaps just took any old random arrow, and brought it back to me. I thanked him and the other attendant then took my prize, heading back over to the crowd gathering in front of the pie-eating contest.</p><p>There was an empty spot in the audience behind Kailani, so I took it and sat down. Once I got settled in, Kailani turned around and told me that Jerky had signed up for the competition as well. She then increased the bet to a total of ten copper nibs, betting that both Arthur and Jerky would throw up by the end of the contest. The odds were long and in my favor, so I took her up on it. It was already a long-shot that one would vomit, but both? I think I had a good chance at winning. I just needed at least Arthur to hold his pies down. Jerky, I wasn’t so sure about, but Arthur was good to go. Just as we were shaking on the bet, a person stepped up on a platform and began to welcome everyone to the annual Trolltide pie-eating contest.</p><p> After introducing himself to the crowd, he began talking about the contest Arthur and Jerky were about to participate in. Kailani was in high-spirits as she was a fan of the announcer’s charisma and had seen him before in previous Trolltide events. The contest was going to last five minutes and the person who could finish the most pies without throwing up was the winner. As the contestants were taking their places on stage at the tables, the man speaking on the platform announced an interesting twist to that year’s contest. He said that some of the pies had been enchanted with a random spell to make things more interesting. I was intrigued at first until he mentioned that he had a cleric on standby in case a contestant got seriously injured. After that, I got a bit worried for Arthur and Jerky and wondered if they knew that before signing up. As I was looking to them, Kailani allowed Ogga to climb up on her shoulders to get a better view of the stage, which slightly obscured my view.</p><p>Once the announcer was done talking, he wished the competitors good luck then signaled the start of the competition. Arthur and Jerky each took a pie and began digging in. They were in for a rough start as they both bit into enchanted pies. While they were eating, they both felt a burning sensation start to form within them before finally belching a mouthful of flames into the air. It looked like it hurt a bit but they continued on, finishing off that pie and moving on to their next one. Fortunately, they both got a normal pie to eat, so it was a nice break for them after their fiery first one. As they were finishing up their second pie, one of the top contenders next to them suddenly polymorphed into a goat. Even as a goat, he continued to eat the pies which I guessed still counted as long as he didn’t throw up. For their third pie, Arthur got lucky and had another normal pie, but Jerky, not so much.</p><p>When Jerky bit into her pie, she noticed some rumbling coming from inside her. Then suddenly, she felt a large explosion in her belly as a portion of the pie she just ate came bursting out of her mouth. She was sitting right in front of Kailani and the black, projectile vomit was coming right at her. Kailani thought she could be clever and ducked, thinking it would hit me instead. Unfortunately for Ogga sitting on her shoulders, she forgot he was there and the vomit hit him instead, thankfully sparing me from the disgusting mess. I could smell the horrid stench on him and also picked up hints of sparkpowder or something. Kailani promptly apologized to Ogga and cleaned him up using her magic. As she was cleaning him up, she looked to me and mouthed “one down”. I just smirked at her then looked to Arthur, still having complete faith in him that he wouldn’t let me down.</p><p>After finishing his third pie, Arthur moved on to his fourth. He seemed to be keeping pace with the leader and had a chance at winning, though, I didn’t care if he won or not. I just wanted him not to throw up so I could win the bet. As he was eating his next pie, Arthur suddenly felt his stomach become fuller. He then noticed that the pie he was eating had doubled in size which significantly slowed his progress. He looked to be struggling, so I shouted out some words of encouragement to keep him from throwing up. As time came to an end, Arthur only had a few more bites of his fourth pie left but couldn’t finish it. Luckily, he didn’t vomit but the amount he had eaten wasn’t enough to claim the prize. The goat contestant had eaten the most and was crowned the victor.</p><p>As Arthur and Jerky were finishing up on stage, Kailani turned around in her seat and handed me a silver shard. I looked to the coin then told her she could keep it, saying I only needed the bragging rights. She gave me a smile and withdrew her hand, placing the coin back in her coin purse. After getting down from the stage, Arthur and Jerky saw the cleric on site to get any injuries they sustained from the enchanted pies healed. Kailani and I got up and joined them after they got fully tended to. Once we were back together, we all headed over to see the main event which was about to happen.</p><p>Upon making our way over to the area where it was taking place, we saw the covered cage again in the center. Shortly after we got into a spot where we could see things, a couple of event handlers came over and removed the covering, revealing a troll effigy within. It was a large, artificial troll which was being moved by actors using sticks and ropes. One of the handlers then took a torch and tried to light it on fire, but the light sprinkle of rain and overcast made it somewhat hard to do. Eventually, he managed to spark a fire and it slowly grew as the effigy was sent ablaze. It had been a while since I attended a Trolltide festival, so I couldn’t exactly remember the significance of everything that was happening. Last year, I was working, and the year before that, I was out of town on official business.</p><p>While we were standing there watching the ceremony unfold, we heard a disturbance coming from down a nearby street. When we looked to see what was up, we saw a live Troll heading in our direction. The people around us began to panic and run in the opposite direction as they tried to escape the incoming threat. Shortly after we spotted the Troll, we found ourselves as the only ones in the immediate area. As we watched the Troll get closer, we saw that it had iron ball and chains around its ankles and a metal helmet on its head. Trailing behind the Troll were two watchmen trying to catch up to it.</p><p>Seeing them approach, I hurried over to them and asked if this was part of the ceremony. They very bluntly said it wasn’t, so I drew my swords and prepared to take it down. The others and I engaged the Troll along with the two watchmen. We brought it down pretty quickly before it could do any damage to the surrounding area or harm any innocent civilians. It seemed that the Troll was already pretty beat up before arriving at the scene. We guessed that it had fought against some watchmen earlier.</p><p>Once the scene was secure, I approached the two watchmen to see what was going on. They didn’t seem to know where the Troll came from and were just investigating the panicked screams of nearby civilians. After talking a bit more with them, I let them handle securing the scene then left with the group to continue our search.</p><p>Arthur looked around and couldn’t see the symbol anywhere. He then took a moment to try and remember the emblem more clearly in his head. He managed to remember a bit more and told us the symbol looked like an intricately written “R” and “A”. Thinking about it, we figured they were initials of some sort and belonged either to an individual or a company. Since there were more vendors in the Trades Ward, we figured we’d have a better chance of finding what we were looking for there.</p><p>Along the way, I suggested that we first see if we could find out anything at the Distiller’s and Brewer’s Guild. Surely they had records to reference and maybe knew of an individual or company that had the initials “R.A.”. Since it was relatively close by, we decided to check there first before continuing on to the Trades Ward.</p><p>Since Arthur had been there before when he was getting Evergreen Tavern ready for business, he led the way. We went inside and were bombarded with the various scents of bitterness seemingly coming from all the alcohol-related plants. We continued inside and approached an older human male who was situated behind a podium. He was reading from a large ledger in front of him and didn’t notice us enter at first. Arthur and I took the lead and got the man’s attention.</p><p>Arthur asked him if he knew of a person or company with the initials “R.A.”. The man adjusted the large pair of glasses on his face and looked to us with an indifferent expression. He then looked down to the hefty book in front of him and went about searching for the information we asked of him. He flipped through the pages and told us there were roughly seventy-seven entries that had the initials we were looking for. That seemed like a lot but Arthur gave the man a few more specifics to hopefully narrow down the results. The man gave it some thought then pulled out a smaller book and thumbed through it, coming up with three results that better fit what we were looking for. He told us of a well-known brewer that he knew well, another brewer who only produced for himself, and one that he had little no information on. I took out a piece of parchment from my utility pouch and took note of each one, just in case we had to visit them all.</p><p>We figured that the well-known brewer was worth looking into so we asked him more about that one. The man said that the initial’s stood for “Ratarock’s Ale”, which was the name of the establishment. He then told us that their slogan was “The finest ale in all of Faerun”, but cautioned that many brewers claimed that theirs was the best. Wanting to get a better confirmation, I tore my sheet of parchment in half and had Arthur draw the symbol the best he could on the half I gave him. He did as well as he could have and showed the man the symbol. The man confirmed that it was indeed the one belonging to Ratarock’s Ale, which was a relief. He told us that we could find the place in the Trades Ward and marked the location on Kailani’s map.</p><p>In exchange for the information, I reached into my coin purse and laid two copper nibs on the podium for the guild representative. The man just looked to the coins then back to me with an unimpressed look. Just as I did that, Arthur followed my lead except he laid five gold dragons on the podium, greatly overshadowing my seemingly measly offering of two copper nibs. The man’s eyes widened as he graciously took the gold and thanked Arthur for his generosity, pushing the copper aside. I let him keep the nibs then turned around to head on out with everyone else.</p><p>Once we had our next objective, we continued to the Trades Ward and looked around for Ratarock’s Ale. There was a heavy overcast in the sky and the rain had picked up from the slight drizzle from before. We walked along through the dreary weather and eventually caught sight of Ratarock’s Ale. There were large stone columns out front along with an overhang. Above the awning was the shop’s sign, complete with the “R.A.” symbol and the shop’s slogan. Below the sign, there were two women -one cute-half-elf and one dwarf- handing out samples of some of the ale the shop offered. We all went over to get a closer look of things and stopped in front of the sample table.</p><p>Seeing the samples, Arthur asked the women what was available. The half-elf said they had three offerings to choose from: the watermelon ale, the peach ale, and their traditional, original dwarven ale. They said the original was their best-seller and was touted as the best ale in all of Faerun. That was good to hear and it seemed like we were in the right place. Arthur decided to give it a shot and sampled some of the traditional, original ale. While he did that, I tried the watermelon one while Kailani tried the peach one. It was pretty good and the others had similar sentiments of the ones they tried. After trying the watermelon, I also tried the peach one which was equally if not better than the last one I tasted. After we had our samples, the ladies said we could purchase more inside the shop where the owner, a burly dwarf named Ratarock, was.</p><p>We thanked them both and headed on inside to see if we could find Ratarock. The interior was a lot bigger than it appeared to be on the outside. It was also a lot busier than it seemed. The line at the register never seemed to quit as person after person continued to get in line. We tried waiting for an opening to talk to Ratarock, who was manning the register at the time, but the line didn’t seem to die down. Eventually, we just decided to get in line and wait for our turn to talk to him.</p><p>When we finally got to the front of the line, Arthur talked with Ratarock and straightforwardly asked if he knew Lord Neverember. I thought he was being too frank, but fortunately it didn’t bother Ratarock too much. Arthur continued to talk with him and ended up buying two gallon barrels of the original dwarven ale for four silver shards each. I figured that should be enough so we didn’t need to go overboard with the ale. While we were there, Kailani decided to buy a gallon barrel of the peach ale for herself which ran her four silver shards. After getting the ale, we left the shop and decided to head back to the tavern.</p><p>While we were walking back, I decided to break off from the group to take care of an errand since we had nothing urgent going on. I told Arthur to make sure Kailani didn’t get into trouble, then after that, I told Jerky to watch over Arthur and make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. After saying goodbye, I left the group and caught a carriage ride to the Yawning Portal tavern. I had some Force Grey business to attend to and hopefully they could provide some support for our cause.</p><p>I entered the tavern and looked around for Meloon Wardragon, a veteran member of Force Grey that tended to spend his days there. The Trolltide festivities were still going on and the tavern was packed with people trying to stay dry out of the rain. I eventually found him sitting at a table, sharing old war stories with a few other patrons. I walked over to an empty table near him and sat down, eventually getting his attention to come over. After he noticed me, he got up and sat down across from me where I was sitting.</p><p>After the pleasantries were out of the way, I got right down to business. With all the crime and gang activity on the rise within the city, someone had to do something before it got out of control. I told him that my group and I were close to finding out the whereabouts of Xanathar’s lair. I said that my group and I were preparing to hunt him down and take him out, so I was wondering if he or some of the other members of Force Grey wanted in on the glory as well. Meloon was apprehensive at first and asked who else was going to be accompanying us. I tried to keep it as vague as I could, so I just gave him the general details. I told him that in addition to myself and three capable friends of mine, the leader of the Order of the Gauntlet, Savra Belabranta, was going to accompany us with perhaps a few of her knights as well. I also mentioned that a powerful magic user by the name of Remallia Haventree vowed her services, though, I left out the part of her being a Harper as a professional courtesy. Lastly, I mentioned that Renaer Neverember was going to join us in the fight. Meloon was skeptical about Renaer joining us, but I reassured him he was a competent fighter, at least, according to what the others had told me. Meloon thought it over and said he’d try to find some people to spare, but he didn’t want to be babysitting civilians, namely Renaer. I told him the civilians wouldn’t get in our way and that the others would look after him. He took a moment more to think about it then we shook hands. I told him that when we were ready to go, I’d notify him ahead of time. Once all that had been taken care of, I caught a ride on a public carriage back to Evergreen Tavern.</p><p>When I got back to the tavern, no one was around except for a few of the staff there. I went upstairs and found Kailani in Ogga’s room still reading her book. Ogga was there with her as she tried to teach him to read or something. I let her continue with her studies and left so I didn’t disturb her. I made my way back downstairs to the tavern to wait for Arthur and Jerky to get back. Time went by and they finally returned after having done some errands of their own. They had gone to see Mirt to see if they could get any more information out of him. Since Kailani was still upstairs, the three of us went to go get her before talking. After we had gotten her, we found a table back in the tavern to sit at and began to discuss what we had been up to.</p><p>Arthur and Jerky went first, telling Kailani and I about the things that Mirt had told them regarding Xanathar and his lair. First off, they mentioned that Mirt had an informant on the inside who had been feeding him information regarding Xanathar and his operations. He was a dwarf named Thorvin Twinbeard and he was Xanathar’s chief engineer. Apparently, he had a way to bring down Xanathar’s lair, whatever that meant. Arthur and Jerky weren’t too sure what Mirt meant by that either. All they said was that we should rendezvous with the informant once we entered the lair.</p><p>In addition to the informant, they told us about a potential weakness that Xanathar had. According to the information Mirt had told Arthur and Jerky, Xanathar had a pet goldfish named Sylgar which was very important to him. If we somehow managed to acquire it and hold it hostage, Xanathar would probably hesitate to attack us; however, if we accidentally killed it, Xanathar would be furious and attack us relentlessly on sight. While we were on the topic of Xanathar and eventually having to fight him, they mentioned that Xanathar had an anti-magic field which he emitted using his main eye. If he was looking at you, all magic and magical items caught within the field were rendered useless. This meant that someone who was a non-magic user had to keep Xanathar’s attention on them if the magic-dependent members of our group wanted to attack him. This was going to be a problem so we made extra sure to keep that in mind.</p><p>We continued to sit together at the table and discussed a few other things while we had the time. The topic of potentially recruiting more people to join us came up, but we were short on names to ask. We wanted to keep the operation as discreet as we could, but we were a bit worried that we still didn’t have enough personnel to tackle the mission adequately. This was even after I told them about my discussion with Meloon. I told the others that we talked about possibly recruiting a few other Force Grey members to back us up. After talking things over, we came to the conclusion that whoever we had at the moment would have to do. We had asked everyone we knew who could be of potential help against Xanathar.</p><p>As we were about to disperse, Arthur had one last individual he thought of that he could ask for help. He decided to head out to the Yawning Portal to ask him, so I tagged along as did Jerky. While I was there, I figured I’d give Meloon an update on what I found out about Xanathar. We took a carriage, for which Arthur paid all three of our fares, and headed out to the Yawning Portal.</p><p>It was still very busy there, so when we entered, we all separated to accomplish our own goals. I looked around and hoped that Meloon was still around. He usually spent his time there since he couldn’t exert himself too much because of an accident he had. I scanned the many tables there and found him sitting at one with several other patrons around him. He seemed to be in high-spirits and maybe a tad drunk. I just hoped he remembered everything I was about to tell him. There weren’t any empty tables near him, so I just went over and tapped him on the shoulder.</p><p>Meloon then looked up to me and greeted me with just about the same level of enthusiasm as before, maybe more even with all the alcohol in him. I told him that I needed to speak to him for a second, so he got up and stood with me off to the side. I told him what I found out about Xanathar and his lair, also mentioning that we could possibly use a couple more spellcasters if he could find any available. He assured me he’d do his best, so I thanked him and gave him some copper nibs to buy another drink before leaving to find Arthur.</p><p>Arthur had finished with his business as well and was sitting at a table with Jerky. He had recruited a friend of his, a musician named Three-Strings. I was a bit skeptical about his choice but he assured me he was going to be a valuable asset. Once we had finished up our business there, we left the Yawning Portal. Since there was nothing left for us to do as a group, I returned home to my apartment to get some sleep. Before I left, I told Arthur not to let Kailani go home alone if she decided to leave the tavern in the middle of the night, at least, not without proper escort.</p>
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<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Calm Before the Storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next morning, I got up and headed out to meet the others at the tavern. I decided to get another cup of tea in the event that Kailani had spent all night reading her book. When I got to Evergreen Tavern, I made my way inside and found everyone there. Kailani was sitting at the counter so I went over to see how she was doing. The closer I got, I noticed several cups of coffee around her on the countertop. Coffee was a luxury so when I asked how she could afford all of that, she said it was compliments of Arthur and the tavern. I just shrugged my shoulders and placed the cup of tea beside her on the counter, just in case she wanted something to drink other than coffee.</p><p>Before I walked away, Kailani handed me a cup of coffee and told me to try it. I took the cup and gave the contents a look, also taking a brief sniff to make sure it was coffee. The cup felt lukewarm in my hand and there was only like a quarter of the beverage left. I looked back to her who gave me a nod and a smile, encouraging me on to give it a taste. I gave a small sigh then brought it to my lips, letting a bit of the liquid pass through and into my mouth. It was indeed lukewarm, but it had a curious flavor to it. It almost tasted like… caramel, and when I asked her about it, she told me she cast a spell to give the drink that flavor. It was good, though, it was probably better when it was warmed up. I set the cup back down then went over to Arthur and Jerky at their table.</p><p>After a brief conversation, Arthur and Jerky headed out to Fantasy Costco to see if they could find a few things. They wanted to purchase some gear to hopefully aid us in the upcoming battle against Xanathar. I didn’t need anything that I could think of, so I stayed with Kailani at the tavern. While they were gone, I just hung around, occasionally getting up to stretch my legs and sometimes check on Kailani to see if she needed anything. After a while, I decided to do something productive since everyone else was.</p><p>I asked Cragnar if there was anywhere nearby that sold potions and whatnot. I was looking to buy some healing potions to hand out to everyone, just in case they happened to get seriously injured and no one was around to heal them. One could never have too many of those, especially when we were going against something as dangerous as a Beholder. Cragnar told me of a place just down the street that specialized in druid magic and alchemy. I thanked him before telling Kailani I was heading out. She told me she’d be fine, so I left the tavern to take care of the quick errand.</p><p>I followed Cragnar’s directions and ended up in front of a quant shop that seemed to have a greenhouse built above it. I made my way inside and talked with the shop owner. She was an elf druid and her name was Fala. I recognized her as the one who donated the tree in front of Evergreen Tavern. I thanked her for the memorial and told her it looked great, keeping the part about me being friends with Kaz to myself.</p><p>After that, I asked her if she had any Potions of Healing for sale. She told me to wait a moment as she turned around to check her inventory. She carried over a crate of potions and placed them on the counter. She looked through the potions she had on hand and told me she did have a few available. I ended up buying four Potions of Healing at twenty gold dragons per potion and four Potions of Greater Healing at thirty gold dragons per potion. I thanked her for her help and she told me to come by anytime. With the potions placed in a little bag, I made my way back to the tavern to see if Arthur and Jerky had returned, which I doubted.</p><p>When I got back, it was just Kailani and a few other patrons inside. I took my bag of potions and sat down at an empty table, waiting for the others to come back from their shopping trip. After a while, Arthur and Jerky finally returned. Kailani and I were sitting together and they came over to show us what they had got. Unfortunately, they said that Fantasy Costco was going out of business, but they were able to snag a few items that were still left in stock. They got a cloak for Kailani as well as a few other things for themselves. While we were together, I handed out a Potion of Healing and a Potion of Greater Healing to everyone, keeping one of each for myself.</p><p>As we sat together, we went over all the information we had regarding Xanathar, his lair, and everything else in preparation for the raid. We made sure we had nothing else left to find out or anything else to do beforehand. We were just about ready and all we needed to do was wait for Mirt to give us the location of Xanathar’s lair. Once we had gone over everything we needed to, we dispersed to make productive use of the free time we had.</p><p>The rest of the day was spent making sure our group was ready to fight. We made sure our associates were still willing to help us and told them the meeting time and place, which would be in a couple days at Evergreen Tavern. It took a while to find everyone, but we managed. I took care of Meloon and the other Force Grey guys. Arthur and Jerky made sure Savra and whoever else she decided to bring along were ready. Kailani contacted Remallia and made sure she was informed and ready to go. Everything was going smoothly and it seemed our plan was still only among those in-the-know. That took most of the day, so when it got late, I returned back home.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>The next day, the group had nothing planned or pressing to take care of, so I left to take care of some personal business. I went over to the City Watch station to see if I could finally interrogate the Gralhunds and their associates while they were in our custody. I talked with Sergeant Cromley and he finally relented, saying I could do as I pleased within reason. I thanked him and quickly went about interrogating Lord and Lady Gralhund, Lady Gralhund’s personal bodyguard, and the two regular Gralhund guards.</p><p>All of them were tight-lipped and still uncooperative, but I quickly discerned through my interrogation that Lord Gralhund was a coward and probably had nothing to do with Kaz’s death, at least, directly anyway. Lady Gralhund was most likely the more assertive of the pair and was the one giving all the orders to her subordinates. I figured she was the one who ordered Kaz’s execution, but I didn’t believe she was the type to get her hands dirty and do it herself. That left the bodyguard, Hrabbaz, and the other two guards as the prime suspects. I had my suspicions, so I left Hrabbaz for last. I talked to the normal guards and they said they remembered Kaz, one of them saying that he even took a swing at her, but neither admitted to delivering the final blow. I then interrogated Hrabbaz just to be thorough, but he didn’t say anything, though, I could see it in his eyes. He was familiar with Kaz as well and I was sure he was the one who slit her throat.</p><p>After I was done talking with them, I went back to Sergeant Cromley’s office to talk to him in person. He was sitting at his desk, doing some paperwork when I got there. I walked right up to him and strongly asked if I could be the one to execute Hrabbaz. It was only a matter of time if and when he was convicted of murder, possibly multiple even, and sentenced to death. Cromley was staggered by the sudden request and asked me why I wanted to be the one to do it. I told him, without going into specifics, that Kaz was a friend of mine and I wanted to be the one to do her justice. Cromley just looked at me with a contemplative expression, thinking it over. He then spoke up and said that it’d just tear me up more on the inside if he allowed me to execute him. I tried to plead my case but he just held up his hand, prompting me to hold my tongue. He said that he’d think about it and keep me in the loop about any developments regarding the Gralhunds and their sentencing. I thanked him for being so receptive of my request then left the station.</p><p>Afterwards, I made my way back to Evergreen Tavern to see what everyone was up to. They were doing their own thing, so I continued to take care of any remaining personal errands I had left. Remembering Kaz’s belongings still being stored upstairs in a crate, I headed up there to see what else she had. When I got there, no one was around which was a good thing. As I began going through her things, I began to get emotional again. Up until that point, I had been able to hide my grief and sorrow behind my normal personality, at least, while in the presence of the group. It wasn’t until I was alone, whether it was in my apartment or whatnot, that my emotions began to get out of control and run freely. At night, while I was alone in my apartment, I usually ended up thinking about Kaz which led to me crying myself to sleep. That, or while I was cleaning and maintaining her sword after a long day of investigation, I’d get too flustered and become unable to continue.</p><p>I tried to get a hold of myself as I looked through her things, seeing several items that reminded me of her. While I was there, I decided to bring everything back to my apartment until I could figure out what to do with it all. I didn’t want to throw it all out or give it to a random person, but I didn’t exactly know what to do with it in the meantime. It was all I had left of Kaz. I took her backpack and loaded it up with as much as it could hold. Once it was full, I slung it over my shoulder and headed back to my apartment; I’d come back for the rest at a later time.</p><p>As I was walking alone through the streets, my thoughts began to wander to various different things. I began to feel depressed and suddenly didn’t feel like doing anything at the moment. I let out a tired sigh and just continued walking, wanting to just lay down and take a nap. Out of the blue, something odd Kailani said earlier came to mind which made me smile. Remembering her suddenly made me feel warm on the inside, but I couldn’t figure out why. We weren’t dating but instead were just friends. We had been apart for a while and mainly interacted on occasion as just co-workers, so why now?</p><p>My head hurt from just thinking about it. My heart belonged to Kaz and I had no intention of giving it up to anyone else anytime soon. Her passing was still fresh in my mind and I was having trouble letting go. I suppose that was why being around Kailani and thinking about her was so comforting to me all of a sudden. I guess I was projecting my loneliness and yearning for companionship onto her, since she was a close friend and former romantic partner. Well, I wasn’t about to ignore the pleasantness of it all, since it was preventing me from further losing my mind, but I had to remember to keep my feelings in check. If I was going to have Kailani temporarily fill the void of having lost the one I loved, then fine. My aching heart needed some relief after all. I just needed to keep things strictly platonic between myself and Kailani which shouldn’t be too hard.</p><p>For the remainder of the day, I remained at home and stored Kaz’s belongings in a box in my storage closet. I didn’t feel like leaving and needed some time to myself to sort things out in my head.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>The next day, I finished moving Kaz’s things from Evergreen Tavern back to my apartment. I kept it all together in a box until I figured out what to do with it all. Maybe she had some family who’d want it or something. I had no idea.</p><p>While I had the time, I also stopped by Sergeant Cromley’s office to indirectly tell him about our impending operation. I just told him I was working a case and to ignore any reports involving a large group of high-profile individuals making their way through the city streets together. He was confused but just brushed it off, saying he’d keep it in mind. I thanked him for his continued cooperation and understanding then left the station, heading back to the tavern.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. A Moment of Repose</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was the evening before the raid on Xanathar’s lair. Kailani and I were talking together in Evergreen Tavern, trying to come to grips about what we were about to do. We were sitting together at a table, sharing a drink and some dinner with one another as we tried to calm our nerves. I was nervous and anxious about the endeavor, but I managed to keep it hidden underneath an expression of determination and focus. Kailani, on the other hand, was a bit more visible with her anxiety and worry, though, she was also somehow excited as well.</p><p>While we were eating, Kailani talked about how dangerous the fight could be and other things that were bothering her. She then went on to picture us being kicked from the City Watch or possibly being arrested or exiled, us having to resort to being swords-for-hire or something. Her wild fantasies were a tad amusing, but I could see she was genuinely worried and troubled. The noisy surroundings of the tavern probably didn’t help calm her nerves either, so I asked if she wanted somewhere quieter to continue our conversation. She said she did, so I offered up my place as our next venue.</p><p>Since Kailani had been there before when we were still dating, she felt comfortable enough and agreed. After finishing our meals, we left the tavern and headed out. It was getting late, so the sun had already set and it had begun to get dark. We walked together through the streets and arrived back at my apartment in the Castle Ward. She had calmed down somewhat since leaving the tavern, but I could tell she still had a lot on her mind. After making our way inside my apartment, I got us a couple of drinks and sat down with her at the small dining table I had.</p><p>I was glad that she accepted my offer to come over because I actually had a few things I wanted to talk to her about. I didn’t feel comfortable telling her at the tavern while we were in public, so I was hoping we’d have a chance to talk in private at some point before the raid. Now that she was there, I had the perfect opportunity to do so. After taking a sip from my glass, I told her that I had something important to tell her and prepared myself to disclose everything. Once I had her attention, I told her about my darling, Kaz, telling her everything about who she was, how we met, and our previous relationship. At first, she was confused as to why I was telling her all that, but the more she listened, the more it made sense to her.</p><p>I told her that it was because of Kaz’s death that I began investigating the Gralhund case in the first place, eventually joining her and the others in the ensuing adventures that followed. Since there was a strong possibility that I might die the next day, I wanted someone to continue my mission and fulfill my promise to avenge Kaz on my behalf. Since I trusted Kailani as a friend and as a fellow member of the City Watch, I chose her. She was surprised by the request, but she gave me a nod and said she’d do it after giving it some thought. I was so relieved and thanked her graciously, saying that it was only if the worst came to pass. In the meantime, I promised her I’d do my best to protect her and everyone else in the group while I still drew breath. I didn’t want a repeat of the Gralhund Villa Massacre happening on my watch. She seemed to be a bit calmer as her mind was distracted by something else, but then she suddenly became worried at the notion of me or her potentially dying tomorrow.</p><p>I saw the fright on her face as she began to ramble on about the worst possible outcome occurring in Xanathar’s lair. It was late at night and we had both finished our drinks by then. She looked tired, especially after having spent the past few days reading her book nearly non-stop. I told her she probably needed to get some sleep before our fight the next day, but she said she couldn’t. With everything that was going on in her head, she said she’d be lucky if she got a wink of sleep that night. She was stressing out and fidgeting in her seat, unable to regain her composure.</p><p>I couldn’t bear to see her like that so I offered to keep her company to try and calm her nerves. I said that she could stay the night if she wanted to, instead of being out on the coast all by herself. She gave me a guarded look but I just held up my hands in front of me, reassuring her that I had nothing underhanded in mind. She continued to watch me closely then smiled, saying that she appreciated it while taking me up on the offer. She knew I had no ill intentions and wouldn’t dare do anything inappropriate to her, which she was correct in assuming. I was a man of honor and didn’t let a single ill-mannered thought cross my mind when I gave her the offer.</p><p>Before it got any later, I decided to call it a night and began to get ready for bed. I hung my belt with the swords still attached in my wardrobe along with my overcoat, which was actually my enchanted armor disguised to look like an overcoat. We didn’t fight anything that day, so there was no need to clean Kaz’s sword; it was still pristine from the last time I performed maintenance on it. I went into my bathroom and got cleaned up, washing my face then drying it with a washcloth. I allowed Kailani to freshen up as well if she wanted to.</p><p>After stepping into the room together, we both looked to the sole bed situated there. As she turned to me, I motioned for her to take her pick of which side she wanted. She rolled her eyes then went over to the bed, removing her shoes and shedding her outer layers of clothing before hopping on. She was wearing casual clothes instead of her City Watch uniform which made things easier. She still had on a shirt and pants, so it wasn’t going to be too awkward if we shared the bed together. I had on my pants and shirt as well, so I joined her over by the bed after snuffing out the candles.</p><p>As I sat on the edge of my bed, the moonlight cast enough light through the window that I could still see somewhat clearly around the room. I looked over to see Kailani trying her best to rest peacefully with her back facing me. I smiled, remembering a previous time where she was there and I was where I was. Like I said before, we had dated a long time ago, so this wasn’t exactly all that new or strange to us. Back then, we were young and had just joined the City Watch together. This led to that and we ended up dating, which was good for a time. We hung out together, enjoyed each other’s company, and did what normal boyfriends and girlfriends did. After a while, though, we ended breaking up on amicable terms and still remained good friends. We figured we made better friends and close co-workers rather than romantic partners. That was around the same time we split off to pursue differing career paths. She continued with her work with the Wave Watchers while I got accepted into Force Grey. That seemed like such a long time ago. I never thought that we’d be working together once more as detectives.</p><p>I let out a sigh and laid down on the bed beside her, making sure not to invade her personal space too much. I knew how much she didn’t like touching, so I just lay on my side, keeping my back to her. I guess that explained why we never kissed, hugged, or even held hands while dating. I could feel the heat radiating from her body, so there was no need to use the covers. I then closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep, pushing out any doubts or fears I might’ve had at the time.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Raid: Infiltration</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The morning was dark and foreboding when the two of us woke up from our slumber. It was raining hard outside and thundering in the distance. While I was getting ready, Kailani decided to head back to her place to change and prepare herself. I offered to walk with her once I was done, but she said she’d be fine and didn’t want to waste any time. After she left, I exhaled tiredly as I tried to focus on the task at hand.</p><p>Today was the day, possibly my last day alive. I tried not to think about the worst possible outcome, but it was very difficult. How could I not? And not only did I have to worry about myself, but everyone else as well. I didn’t want a single casualty happening during the mission, but the odds of that happening were slim, even with everyone’s magic and surplus of healing supplies.</p><p>I put on my overcoat and fastened my belt around my waist, adjusting the straps for the swords on either side of me. After that, I made sure I had everything I needed tucked away in my utility pouch. I had my healing potions, manacles, and other field gear. Once I was done with everything I needed to get done, I went on over to Kailani’s place then proceeded to Evergreen Tavern together with her.</p><p>Everyone was told to meet at the tavern, so everyone had arrived, Mirt was going to lead us to where Xanathar’s lair was. When Kailani and I arrived, Arthur and Jerky were already there waiting, preparing themselves for the raid. Little by little, people began to arrive at the tavern and gathered around us. Savra showed up accompanied by two half-orc knights from the Order of the Gauntlet. They seemed to be brothers and they were both armed with greataxes. Remallia showed up as well as Three-Strings, which covered the Harper’s contribution to the cause. Lastly, Renaer came in and made his way over to us. Unfortunately, I didn’t see Meloon or any others from Force Grey. Maybe they were called away on urgent official business or something like that. I had no idea. They weren’t cowards so surely they didn’t just ditch me. I thought about waiting around for them, but when Mirt finally arrived, we had to go on without them. We couldn’t wait around any longer so we left the tavern, following Mirt’s lead as he walked at the head of the group.</p><p>It was still raining hard out and the thunder seemed to be getting closer. Mirt led the way and took us through the streets, taking a few back alleyways until we were standing in front of a brick wall. Before we continued on, Mirt turned around to face us and addressed us all as a group. He gave us a rousing speech about the endeavor we were about to take and how daring it was. He asked if we had any last second questions but we seemed to be good to go. With nothing left to say, he turned back around and pushed in a couple of bricks on the wall. After he did that, an opening in the wall slid open, revealing a secret staircase leading down to a worn, wooden door. He stepped aside and wished us luck.</p><p>With the path open, we began to form a single-file line since the passageway was a bit narrow for all us to just start piling in. Arthur volunteered to take the lead, since he was small and had a shield at the ready. Jerky went in behind him followed by Kailani then me. After us, Renaer came in behind us followed by Three-Strings, Remallia, Savra, and her two knights. Mirt waved us off then left for his estate to hopefully hear back about our success later on.</p><p>Since she was near the front, Kailani used Mage Hand to check for traps ahead of us. She relayed her findings to Arthur who continued to take lead, opening up the wooden door and proceeding into another corridor. It was a bit dark with barely any lights, so Arthur used his shield and turned it into a light source using magic to guide our way. All along the walls of the corridor we were walking through, there were eyes carved and drawn all around us. It was the symbol of Xanathar’s Guild which clearly meant we were in the right place. The eyes seemed to open and close on their own which was unnerving to see. Kailani was trembling with tension in front of me, so I placed a hand on her shoulder to help calm her down.</p><p>At the end of the hallway was a large, circular door. It was around eight feet in diameter which seemed big enough to accommodate a Beholder. We carefully moved closer and noticed something in the corner coming down from the ceiling. It was a ghostly-looking eye stalk and it seemed to be watching us. We were about to attack it in attempt to destroy it before it noticed us, but Remallia stopped us. She remarked that it most likely couldn’t be destroyed through physical means. She also said that it was used by certain Xanathar Guild members to monitor the lair’s hallways for intruders. There were several of them so whoever was behind it may not have noticed us yet. The others withheld from attacking and quickly tried to find a way out from its potential gaze.</p><p>While we were in the hallway, I happened to notice something odd on the wall beside us. There was a noticeably different carved eye that was pretty worn down when compared to the rest around it. I gave it a closer look and the surrounding wall seemed to be slightly different than the rest. I told Kailani to give it a look and she used her Mage Hand to push it, as if it were a button or something. Whatever she did seemed to do the trick as a hidden door was triggered and opened for us. The passageway and door was a bit smaller than the large circular one ahead of us, so we figured a Beholder couldn’t fit through it. That was good, I thought. We didn’t need Xanathar sneaking up behind us unexpectedly.</p><p>Since the side passage was smaller and off the main path, we decided to go that way. Before we left, Kailani snuck up to the large door and peeked inside. She said she only saw another hallway that led to another large, circular door. She came back over to us and we all proceeded into the side door in the same line order as before. We all moved into the hallway and kept our guard up. We were behind enemy lines within their lair, so there was no telling what we might face down there. Indeed, we had no idea.</p><p>As we made our way through the hallway, we saw several humanoid statues going down its length on either side of us. They appeared to be very lifelike, so we guessed that they were unfortunate victims of Xanathar’s that happened to be petrified or something. While we were looking at the statues, we heard a jingling coming from further down the hallway. We all looked to see a small deep gnome coming right at us as he skipped along right in the middle of the hallway. I readied to draw my weapons and take him out if need be, but so far, he seemed harmless enough. We all remained wary as he stopped right in front of us and introduced himself.</p><p>He said his name was Flutterfott Zipswiggle and he was Xanathar’s jester, which explained his outfit with all the little bells attached to it. He asked what we were doing there and before anyone else could say something, Arthur spoke up, saying we were supposed to be there. He and Flutterfott continued to talk while the rest of us remained on standby, ready to act at a moment’s notice. While they were talking, I heard whispering behind us as Savra and her knights took a gander at the closest statue to them, wondering who the person was before being petrified. I turned my attention back to the jester and noticed that Jerky had gotten in on the conversation.</p><p>Jerky asked him if he wanted to leave with us and Flutterfott said he did. He didn’t like Xanathar and thought he was mean and dangerous. He actually feared for his life and thought he might die any day now, though his cheery jester persona kept that well-hidden. He told us that he had been there all his life and had no loyalty for Xanathar or his group. Jerky and Arthur then began to ask him about Xanathar specifically and his lair. Before Flutterfott answered them, he said he’d give us a riddle and if we figured it out, then he’d help us. We took a moment to think the riddle over, but surprisingly, Arthur knew it right away and guessed correctly. I was surprised, but whatever worked.</p><p>Having solved his riddle, Flutterfott then went on to answer whatever questions we had for him. He didn’t know much, but he did know the whereabouts of Xanathar’s chief engineer, who also happened to be the Harper informant we were supposed to seek out after infiltrating the lair. Flutterfott told us the chief engineer’s workshop was dead ahead at the end of the long hallway. Not wanting to be out in the open any longer, we had him lead us to him.</p><p>While we walked down the hallway, Flutterfott pointed out several areas of interest as we passed them by. The first thing we passed was a barracks for Xanathar Guild members. The door was closed and Flutterfott said there were maybe six bunkbeds inside, which meant there could be twelve hostiles inside. We made sure to be extra quiet as we walked by, not wanting to alert them to our presence.</p><p>With the barracks to our right, we then passed a hallway on our left which led to a security checkpoint of sorts. As we peeked down to see what was at the end of it, we saw probably four dwarves with some sort of surveillance gear or something connected to them. It looked magical in nature and I think Flutterfott said they were the ones monitoring the hallways of the lair using the ghostly eyestalks, kind of like the one we saw earlier.</p><p>Continuing on at a careful pace, we passed by another closed door on our right. This time, Flutterfott said it was a personal quarters belonging to an individual named Noska. Immediately after he mentioned that, I recognized the name as belonging to a certain dwarf with a crossbow for an arm. I still had a score to settle with him after we encountered him previously at the docks. He even almost hit Kailani with a crossbow bolt and he needed to pay for that, among the numerous other crimes he had committed.</p><p>To the left of us was a hallway leading to a large, open room. It had a very tall ceiling and it was shaped like a dome according to Flutterfott. It was used as a grand audience room and had statues and mosaics decorating it. We didn’t need to go down there yet, so we continued on passed it and had only one more door to pass before getting to the workshop. The last door was on our left and Flutterfott said it belonged to some assassin or someone; their name was Ahmaergo, I think. He was not welcome inside and the one time he did manage to get in, he said he saw piles of bones and other disconcerting stuff. We ignored the door for now as we all directed our attention to the other door near us which led into the workshop.</p><p>Since it was a Harper informant we were dealing with, Kailani volunteered to take point inside along with Remallia. Jerky said she’d accompany them so the three ladies carefully opened the door and sneaked inside. They wanted to send Flutterfott inside first to scope it out but opted against it, since he said he wasn’t welcome in there either. While Kailani handled things in there, I waited with Arthur and everyone else just outside the door, keeping a watchful eye out for any trouble.</p><p>I hoped everything was going well inside the workshop. It had been a while and I was beginning to get worried about Kailani. While we were waiting, Arthur began to get fidgety and began inching closer to the other room near us, the one that Flutterfott said belonged to an assassin and was filled with bones and stuff. I kept looking to him and shaking my head, whispering that he needed to stay put in case we were needed. That only kept him still for a few moments before he tried slinking his way back over to the door again.</p><p>Seeing that I couldn’t contain his curiosity, I let him check out the room as long as he did it quietly and carefully. I didn’t want him getting into any trouble or alerting the entire base that we were there. As Arthur opened up the door, Savra and her knights accompanied him and entered the room as well. They closed the door behind them which left me with just Renaer, Three-Strings, and Flutterfott out in the hallway. I was getting anxious too, but I had to remain calm and patient. If we all did our own thing on a whim, we’d surely fail with several of us getting injured or even killed. I would not allow that to happen if I could help it.</p><p>Shortly after Arthur and the others entered the room, I began to hear noises coming from within. I stepped closer to the door and leaned in to better hear. I then heard shouting, the clanging of weapons, and the telltale sounds of a combat. I grumbled to myself while rolling my eyes then told the others to stay put while I investigated the disturbance. Once I opened the door, I saw Savra and her knights fighting what looked like a living Minotaur skeleton. Arthur was nowhere in sight, so I rushed in to provide assistance before someone got seriously injured. Renaer and Three-Strings helped out as well, despite me telling them to stay back while I handled things. Fortunately, I was able to get in close behind the Minotaur and take it out before it could do any more damage.</p><p>Once the threat had been taken care of, I hurried over to Savra to ask what happened to Arthur. Just as I did, Kailani, Jerky, and Remallia came in after seeing the hallway empty and the door wide open. They approached us and once they were over by me, Savra told us what had happened.</p><p>When Savra and the rest of her group entered the room, there was nothing too out of the ordinary around. There was no movement and there didn’t seem to be anyone there, so they continued to look around. They made note of a large, seemingly plush Minotaur off to the side as well as a greataxe placed on a rack and what appeared to be a miniature maze. The maze looked to be hand-crafted and it was placed in the middle of the room on a stone slab. Savra and the others ignored it for the moment and followed Arthur towards another door in the room. After Arthur opened it to reveal nothing but a large room with bones scattered around, they began to hear movement from somewhere in the room. When they turned around to see what it was, the skeleton of a Minotaur came bursting out of the plush toy that resembled it. Seeing an enemy, she said that Arthur engaged the creature first and tried to jump of the center stone slab, but as soon as he touched the maze on top of it, he vanished. She wanted to investigate what happened to him, but she had to neutralize the threat in front of them first.</p><p>Remallia went over to the maze in question and investigated it closely. After giving it a closer look, she informed us that she had seen one before similar to that. It was a trap and she speculated that once someone touched it, they were trapped in the maze for a certain amount of time. The only way out was to finish the maze or wait until the spell wore off, in which the person would return to the moment just before they touched the maze. We all knew Arthur wasn’t going to be able to finish the maze on his own, at least, not for a while, so we asked her how long until he spell wore off. She had no way of knowing for sure, but she guessed maybe ten minutes or so. Someone asked if there was anything in there that might try to attack him and she said she wasn’t sure.</p><p>Upon hearing all that, I was straight pissed. Not only did we have to wait ten minutes because of him, we had to do it all while trying to remain undetected within an enemy stronghold. I asked if there was anything we could do to speed things up, but unfortunately, there was none according to Remallia. So, in the meantime, Kailani and Jerky told us what they found out from the informant.</p><p>While they talked with Thorvin, they learned more about what Mirt meant when he said that the informant would know how to bring down the lair. Thorvin had a plan that involved several key points around the lair and something he called smokepowder. Being an engineer, he knew the intricacies of the base’s construction and was aware of all the weak points in its infrastructure. He told Kailani and the others that if one were to put smokepowder at all of the specified points and were detonated, it would completely destroy the lair. He warned, though, the each batch of smoke powder had to be ignited simultaneously. A single person would not have enough time to light one batch as it would explode before they got to the second. He did not have the smokepowder, however, but an advisor did. He said he’d help us carry out the plan either before or after we took out Xanathar, so we figured we do it after. We didn’t want to potentially miss our target or get caught up in the blast ourselves.</p><p>After telling us about Thorvin’s plan, Kailani and Jerky went on to talk about a few other things he had told them. He told them that Xanathar was most likely in his ancestor’s crypt and wasn’t the first Beholder to claim the lair as his own. He also said Xanathar wasn’t the only Beholder in here as well. He said that there was a Zombie Beholder acting as a sentry near the front entrance of the lair. We supposed that if we had gone through the second circular door, we would’ve encountered it and we were thankful that we didn’t. The Zombie Beholder was a rival of Xanathar’s, or something, so when Xanathar defeated him, he turned him into a zombie for some reason.</p><p>The last thing that Thorvin told Kailani and the others about was his personal project. They said he was working on some sort of machine that turned the petrified remains of people into a form construction material. He said the material was really good for construction and said that it was going to be a huge hit when he perfected it. After hearing that, I was pretty sure I didn’t like the guy and wanted him locked up at the very least. Even if the people he was experimenting on were petrified and possibly dead, that didn’t give him the right to mutilate their bodies and turn them into a product to get rich off of. It was completely wrong and I’m sure there was a law that covered it. I was so disgusted at that moment that I couldn’t think of any. All those poor people reduced to mere paste just to make a quick nib. Made me sick just thinking about it.</p><p>Shortly after Kailani and Jerky were done telling us everything the informant had told them, Arthur finally returned to us, alive and seemingly unharmed. He appeared over the stone slab and was mid-jump, but since he had no more momentum, he just fell straight to the floor beside the miniature maze. After he got back on his feet, we all went over to him. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind but Kailani got to him first, smacking him right across the face as she began to berate him. She was rather irate and I could see the confused and maybe even frightened expression on Arthur’s face. I patted Kailani on the shoulder and had her step aside.</p><p>After Kailani moved out of the way, I stood right in front of Arthur and crouched down so that I was eye-level with him. I did my best to control my frustration and proceeded to tell him how it was. I told him that this was serious business and not a game. There were lives at stake, and since we were in the enemy’s backyard, we had no room for careless mistakes. I then directed his attention to his injured companions within the Order of the Gauntlet, one of which looked pretty beat up already. I told him that their injuries were on him for not keeping in line with the rest of the group. They could have died even before we reached our main objective of taking out Xanathar. Before I got up, I reassured him that I wasn’t mad, but I was definitely disappointed. After receiving my stern lecture, Arthur looked over to Savra and her knights and healed them a little using his magic, apologizing for getting them involved in his sidetrack.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Raid: Geronimo</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once everyone had recovered from the minor setback, we continued on. Our next step was to make our way into Xanathar’s sanctum to capture his prized pet fish, Sylgar. We carefully made our way through the lair using the map Thorvin had drawn for Kailani. So far, everything seemed to be quiet and we had yet to be detected. We went down a hallway and entered the grand audience chamber, but fortunately for us, it was unoccupied. We continued down another hallway and saw the sanctum up ahead.</p><p>We snuck closer to get a better look and saw the large glass fishbowl that Sylgar mainly resided in. In front of the fishbowl, we saw a person tending to something. Perhaps he was just cleaning the bowls. Either way, we prepared to ambush whoever it was with Kailani readying one of her wands to restrain the individual. Once Kailani was ready, she used her wand and paralyzed the man, rendering him unable to move or talk. As soon as we saw that he was neutralized, we rushed over to him and secured the area. I took out my manacles and cuffed his wrists behind his back, which took some effort due to him being paralyzed.</p><p>Unfortunately, in our haste to secure the dwarf, we failed to notice the purple spores that were floating in the air all around us. Just after I had finished getting the manacles on Sylgar’s attendant, I started to laugh uncontrollably. I had absolutely no control over myself as I gripped my stomach, falling to the ground in a sudden fit of laughter. I was lucky, though, as most of the others had been affected by the spores as well and were experiencing varying side-effects. Only Kailani, Jerky, Savra, Three-Strings, and one of the half-orc brothers were not affected. While I was stuck on the floor laughing, Arthur began to babble incoherently while still being able to control his body’s motor functions for the most part. Renaer took the hat off of our prisoner and began to chew on it absentmindedly while the other half-orc brother became paralyzed, falling flat on his back. Lastly, Remallia began to become highly aggressive and started attacking Three-Strings. She sucker-punched him in the jaw then tackled him to the ground, still using her fists to hit him. We were just lucky that she didn’t use her magic in her uncontrollable rage or else we would’ve been in real trouble.</p><p>Anyway, while all that was happening, Kailani did her best to take control of the situation. She had everyone that was affected by the spores vacate the area until the side-effects wore off. The half-orc brother who was not affected was already ahead of her, dragging his paralyzed brother back into the hallway where Flutterfott was waiting for us. Savra hurried over to Remallia and got her off Three-Strings, picking her up and hauling her off towards the hallway as well. Remallia continued to kick and flail around, even attempting to bite Savra on one occasion.</p><p>While the rest of the team and I were trying to get a hold of ourselves, Kailani and Arthur returned their focus back to the task at hand. Kailani used Mage Hand to try and scoop the fish out of the large bowl and put it into the smaller one beside it. The large bowl was around twenty feet in diameter which was way too large to transport on our own. The smaller bowl, however, was only three feet in diameter which was still large, but much more doable with the manpower we had.</p><p>Kailani was struggling to get the fish as it was too quick and agile for her, so Arthur decided to help her out. He took off his gear and climbed up the fishbowl. Once he was at the top, he jumped in and more or less tried to swim after the fish. I’m not sure how he did it, since he was babbling uncontrollably, but he managed somehow without completely drowning. I wasn’t even sure if he knew how to swim to be honest, though, I couldn’t see all that well due to my laughing spree.</p><p>As the two were trying to get the fish, the spell that Kailani cast on the dwarf wore off and he began to ramble on. Seeing that he might’ve been trying to alert Xanathar, Jerky rushed over to him and tackled him right off his feet. She then sat on him to keep him still and held a dagger to his throat which seemed to quiet him down.</p><p>Seeing that Kailani and Arthur were still having trouble acquiring Sylgar, Three-Strings came over to them after he recovered from the minor beating that Remallia had given him. He then used some magic to put Sylgar to sleep which made it easier for the others to catch. Kailani was about to grab the fish, but Arthur got to it first before handing it to her Mage Hand. After getting a hold of the fish, Kailani transferred it to the smaller bowl which had some water already in it.</p><p>While Arthur was in the large fishbowl, he decided to investigate the treasure chest he found at the bottom there. He opened it up and found a large cache of gemstones situated inside. It took him a couple of trips, be he managed to get them all out of the bowl. There were around 30 gems in total each appraised at 100 gold dragons each. Seeing as it was all too much to carry, he gave half of them to Kailani to keep.</p><p>By that time, my laughing had subsided as did everyone else’s affliction. My abdomen ached and I was nearly out of breath. To be honest, I was rather alarmed by the whole ordeal. While I was catching my breath, I hobbled over to Kailani and Jerky as they began interrogating the dwarf. The dwarf said his name was Ott and he was in charge of taking care of Sylgar. He cleaned the bowl, fed the fish, and made sure it was well taken care of. Surprisingly, he said that the Sylgar we had just taken hostage wasn’t the original one. He said that he had to replace the fish on more than one occasion when it died, but he kept that fact from Xanathar.</p><p>During the interrogation, Ott mentioned a large mirror in the room that Xanathar would look into from time to time. Kailani and Jerky were skeptical of the mirror and brought Ott over towards it. They stood off to the side of the mirror then pushed Ott in front of it, asking what he saw. He said that he saw a storefront and when the others looked into the mirror, they saw it as well. It was just the view of a normal storefront, seemingly somewhere in Waterdeep. We guessed Xanathar used it to spy on people and probably had other locations around the city that linked to the mirror.</p><p>Not wanting to waste time, we quickly finished up in the room before heading to take out our main objective. Arthur secured Ott and left him in a corner of the room, using a pair of manacles from Kailani to secure his ankles together. Kailani carried the small fishbowl with Sylgar in it and handed it to one of the knights to carry. It was unwieldy for her, but the half-orc managed to carry it without too much trouble. Once we had regrouped, we continued onward through the stronghold.</p><p>We continued to skulk through the base the best we could while remaining undetected, though, the half-orcs in full armor while one of them carried a large fishbowl made that very difficult. We consulted the map in Kailani’s hands and plotted the quickest way to the crypt. As we were heading down a staircase that led to the lower level, we stopped as we heard a lot of voices and sounds from down below. Flutterfott told us that the lair had a tavern and it was right at the end of the staircase. There were a lot of guild members down there celebrating something according to him. He told us that the tavern was in-between us and the crypt, so if we continued on our path, we had to somehow get passed everyone in there. We asked if there was an alternate way to get to the crypt and he told us of two possible routes, showing us both on the map. We opted to go with the route that took us closest to the crypt without fighting, bypassing as much of the lair as we could.</p><p>Flutterfott led the way and we followed him to the alternate path. As we made our way back into the audience chamber, we were spotted by a dwarf who happened to be walking by in the corridor ahead of us. We were all out in the open in the middle of the chamber, so there was no way he missed seeing us. A few seconds after spotting us, he broke into a sprint and ran off. Seeing as how we had lost the element of surprise, we hurried to get to the dwarf before he alerted the rest of the lair. We ran after him the best we could, but by the time we went down the stairs he escaped to, he was out of sight. We either had the choice of continuing to look for him or attack Xanathar head-on and worry about the possible reinforcements later. Left brought us back to the tavern full of guild members, which was probably where the dwarf went off to, and right brought us to the crypt where Xanathar was. Seeing as how we were so close to our target, we opted to go right and fight Xanathar.</p><p>We hurried down the hallway and soon arrived just outside the crypt. Luckily, there were no guild members around guarding the door, so we figured it was just us and Xanathar. We got into formation and opened the door, revealing the contents of the crypt. Inside, we immediately saw the bodies of four dead Beholders being kept in large, glass containers filled with some sort of preservation liquid. The crypt was immense and we didn’t initially see Xanathar anywhere, though, we did hear the loud muttering of a single voice from somewhere in the room. As we began to make our way into the crypt to hopefully ambush Xanathar, I accidentally tripped on myself and fell over, causing a loud sound to emanate throughout the chamber. I guess my nerves got the better of me and caused me to make such a novice mistake. The noise alerted Xanathar to our presence before we could get into an optimal position, so we all prepared ourselves for a fight.</p><p>Xanathar hovered over in front of us and came into full view. The Beholder was much larger than I thought and just as intimidating with his large, piercing eye and rows of sharp teeth. As he looked at us all, he noticed his pet, Sylgar, amongst us and angrily asked what we were doing with it. Since Arthur and Jerky were at the front of the group, they began to talk to him about it and tried to play it off. He was horrifying but I did my best to keep my composure. I suppose I wasn’t the only one who thought so, but some were better at keeping their cool than others. Kailani freaked out and fired a fireball right at him as he was talking to Jerky and Arthur out front. The rest of the group was still in the chamber’s entrance hallway, bunched up together in a sort of chokepoint. After the fireball struck Xanathar, the battle began in earnest.</p><p>We all hurried out of the entrance and dispersed amongst the room so Xanathar couldn’t hit us all at once. The half-orc brothers were still confused on what to do with the fish and stood off to the side, still carrying the fishbowl with Sylgar in it. Everyone else scattered and began attacking Xanathar from all directions. Arthur was closest and managed to get on top of Xanathar, attacking him from above. I wanted to get closer to attack, but there were some disgusting, floating things in my way. After Kailani’s fireball destroyed the two glass preservation tubes closest to us, several odd organisms came out. I approached the one in my way and stabbed it, figuring that whatever it was it couldn’t be good. I should have known better than to stick my blade into something I wasn’t familiar with, because once I struck it, it exploded and spewed out poison gas, some of which I happened to inhale. It was very painful and my lungs felt like they were on fire, but I continued on, eventually getting close enough to Xanathar to land a few strikes in with my swords.</p><p>The ensuing fight was harrowing and very frightening, but we managed to hold our own. Everyone pulled their weight and kept attacking Xanathar with everything they had. The melee fighters were able to keep Xanathar’s gaze off of the magic users so that they could use their spells to attack. Everything was going smoothly until we had our first casualty. I felt my heart sink as I saw Kailani take a big hit during the battle, falling to the ground as she fought to stay conscious. I hurried over to her and came to her aid, reaching into my utility pack for a Potion of Healing. I swiftly administered it which managed to keep her from getting any worse. Once I helped her to her feet and made sure she was okay, I returned to the battle.</p><p>After Kailani managed to stand up on her own, she looked to the half-orc carrying Sylgar and told him to toss the fish. The knight was confused and asked if she was sure, and she replied that she was. After a shrug, the knight moved closer to Xanathar and with all his might, heaved the fishbowl right at him. The fishbowl flew through the air then shattered into several pieces as it impacted the Beholder who was focused elsewhere. After reeling from the attack, Xanathar looked down to see Sylgar flopping around on the floor in a puddle of water gasping for air. Xanathar was furious and continued to attack us, focusing his attention on the person who threw the fishbowl at him. Before he could enact his revenge, Kailani got the final hit on him by delivering a magnificent lightning bolt right dead center of him, blasting a gaping hole right through him. We all looked on in awe as we saw Xanathar fall to the ground, dead.</p><p>Shortly after the threat had been neutralized, Kailani rushed over to the barely breathing fish and tried to keep it alive using her magic. She frantically looked around for someplace to put him in but came up short. She then asked Remallia to help her and showed her the fish. Remallia rolled her eyes then mended the fishbowl back together using her magic. Kailani asked for some water and a few of the others emptied their waterskins into the bowl. Once she had a sufficient amount of water, she gently put Sylgar in who began swimming around like nothing had even happened.</p><p>While that was happening, I just stood there for a moment, relived that we had defeated Xanathar without anyone dying. The rest should be a cake walk, or so I thought. I then felt a pain in my chest and sought out Remallia for some help. I asked her if she could rid the poison I inhaled earlier and she obliged. Using her magic, she cured me of the disease as well as Jerky who had also been affected by the poison. Once my lungs were clear, I took in a deep breathe then exhaled happily.</p><p>As everyone was recovering from the battle, Arthur and Kailani each went over to Xanathar and cut off one of his eye stalks to keep as a souvenir. I had no need for a trophy, so I abstained from taking one. Besides, the stalks were rather gross and would stink up the apartment. Once everyone was done looking around, we prepared to make our exit. We prepared ourselves to potentially have to fight our way out, so we grouped up on the crypt’s door and looked out into the hallway. It looked clear, so we quickly went into the adjacent room to hide from any reinforcements that might be on their way.</p><p>The room was rather dark, so Kailani used her magic to light a fire in her hand so we could see. Looking around, we spotted a couple of crates in the back of the room. We went over and saw that one was filled with onyx statues of some kind while the other was filled with small, plush Xanathar toys. I decided to pick up one of the plush toys as a souvenir, one that was a lot easier to maintain than a dead eye stalk. After that, I looked around and noticed something by the stone bookshelves on a nearby wall. I spotted a hidden door behind it and opened it up, revealing a stash of several crates of smokepowder. We guessed we came across the supply that Thorvin had mentioned Xanathar’s advisor had access to. Inside the crates were small kegs of the powder which had fuses stuck in them. The fuses seemed short, so there wasn’t much time between lighting it and it exploding. A few of us, including me, decided to take one, figuring they could possibly be useful if we needed to clear out large groups of enemies.</p><p>Since no reinforcements came to take care of us, we left the room we were in and continued down the corridor, ending up in one of the kitchens. We encountered the head chef, a human named Bepis, who mistook Jerky as his replacement. We told him that we killed Xanathar and that he was free to go if he pleased. He was very thankful and notified us that Ahmaergo came by earlier to round up everyone in the tavern before heading back upstairs. When we asked who Ahmaergo was, Bepis told us that he was a dwarf and Xanathar’s second-in-command. We discussed our next move and decided to go through the tavern to try and flank Ahmaergo and his posse if we could. Bepis accompanied us as we carefully made our way into the tavern.</p><p>I took point and slowly opened the door leading into the tavern. The surrounding area was trashed with empty tankards everywhere, rubbish on the floor, and two sleeping goblins with wooden buckets on their heads. The goblins were asleep off to the side, apparently very intoxicated from all the drinks and merriment. Bepis told us that they were mainly used for entertainment and were bullied into dancing for the others, so we ignored them for now; they were more likely victims rather than threats. We continued on without any trouble and made our way back upstairs.</p><p>We arrived back in the hallway where we first met Flutterfott and looked around. The coast was clear, so we moved into the hallway and prepared our next move. While we were there, Jerky sent a message to Thorvin in the workshop via magic. She told him that Xanathar was dead and that he could go if he wanted. Shortly after he received the message, he came out of his workshop and made his way over to us. Before he could continue to the exit, I stopped him and asked if he was going to continue with his personal project. I wanted to arrest him on the spot to stop him, but like usual, we had more pressing matters to attend to. He said he wouldn’t pursue it further so I let him go, though, I didn’t fully trust his word.</p><p>The path to the entrance was clear, but we wanted to at least take out Xanathar’s second-in-command before leaving. We wanted to damage the organization’s command structure so it wouldn’t be able to rebuild itself, at least, not quite for some time. We looked at the map and tried to figure out where Ahmaergo had gone and was going to ambush us. While we were there, I thought of an idea, suggesting that we lure him to us and ambush him instead. On the map, I showed the others the grand audience chamber near us and said that was a perfect spot to launch our attack.</p><p>I was going to stand in the middle of the chamber and blow my whistle, acting as bait while feigning that I was lost and looking for my friends. Everyone else was going to hide behind the statues there and lie in wait to ambush those who came after me. There were two main entrances that proved to be suitable spots for a chokepoint, allowing our magic users to catch them in a concentrated group with a big spell. The plan seemed to go over well with everyone, so we headed out to enact it.</p><p>We headed down to the corridor leading to the audience chamber and looked down the hall. We didn’t see anyone present, so we snuck our way there and secured the area. Once it was clear, I took up position in the middle of the room while everyone else hid behind statues lining the perimeter of the room. I took a deep breath and prayed it would work before blowing the whistle. I blew it several times, allowing some time in-between blows to catch my breath. The loud sound echoed throughout the chamber and hopefully reached far into the lair.</p><p>Soon enough, I saw a dwarf’s head pop out from behind a wall in the corridor ahead of me. He appeared to be investigating the source of the noise then walked fully in view of me. He had a greataxe and wore a horned helm on his head. I recognized him as the dwarf who spotted us earlier and figured this was probably Ahmaergo. I kept up the charade of being lost but Ahmaergo didn’t buy it. He saw right through my act and immediately deduced that we had a trap planned for him. He pulled out a heavy crossbow and fired a bolt right at me. Luckily, the bolt missed so I put the whistle away back in my utility pouch, drawing both my swords as I readied for a fight.</p><p>As soon as I saw more guild members begin to arrive, I cursed under my breath, having forgot to set up the explosive barrels by the entrances. I shook it off and prepared to engage, but fortunately, Kailani was ready and fired a large fireball right in the middle of the incoming group. It caught Ahmaergo’s men off-guard and severely damaged them as they entered the room. As they tried to recover, we tore into them and cut several of them down in mere moments. While that was all happening at the east entrance leading into the audience chamber, more reinforcements came to fight from the west entrance.</p><p>I barely had time to glance over to see four more guild members appear with the zombified Beholder trailing behind them. I looked on in horror as they entered the room, but then I sighed with relief as I saw the area around them suddenly become engulfed in flames. I looked over to see Remallia after she had thrown the fireball necklace at them, the one that Arthur had given her earlier. All four of the guild members were instantly taken out with the zombie Beholder still active. Savra and Renaer rushed into battle and began attacking it with their swords. Meanwhile, Jerky, Arthur, and I focused our attention on the remainder of the first group and Ahmaergo.</p><p>The fight was rough, since a lot of us were still recovering from the battle with Xanathar. The others managed to take out the zombie Beholder no problem, but Ahmaergo was a different story. We managed to take out his five subordinates until he was the only one that remained. He managed to knock both Jerky and Arthur out before we all could finish him off.</p><p>Once the battle was over, we conducted damage assessment and gave medical attention to whoever needed it. After some healing spells and potions, Jerky and Arthur were back on their feet. Remallia had enough fighting for one day and since Xanathar and Ahmaergo were dead, she wanted to leave, feeling that she more than kept up her side of the bargain for now. We all figured the same and began heading towards the entrance, all still alive and able to bask in our victory. Jerky was still feeling weak, so she asked one of the half-orc knights to carry her the rest of the way, which he did. There were no more obstacles or enemies to deal with, so we managed to make it topside without incident.</p><p>When we all gathered in the alleyway in front of the hidden passageway, we took a moment to reflect on the deed we had just accomplished. We all congratulated each other on a job well done then began to go our separate ways. Remallia, Renaer, and Three-Strings said their goodbyes and went back to their homes. Bepis thanked us for freeing him and went off to find his family whom he hadn’t seen in months. Flutterfott had nowhere to go, so Arthur offered him a place at Evergreen Tavern for the time being. He was very thankful and accompanied him back there, hopping and skipping along the way. Jerky had fallen asleep, so the half-orc just carried her back to the Order of the Gauntlet HQ, following after Savra and his brother. When it was just Kailani and me standing there, I gave her a smile then waved goodbye, saying that I was glad she made out of there alive. She left for her seaside shack, still carrying Sylgar in his fishbowl and the eyestalk draped around her, while I went back to my apartment.</p><p>I was still carrying the keg of smokepowder I took from the advisor’s stash. I thought about bringing it to the City Watch station to log as evidence, but I decided against it. I figured that if I went there, I’d have to explain where I got it from and such, so I just brought it back home. Some of the others wanted to explore the lair more, so Kailani and I told them we’d hold off on telling the City Watch about it. As I gently set the keg down in my apartment, a brief thought crossed my mind. I thought about pacing the keg underneath Hrabbaz’s execution chair and blowing him up with it, but then I figured such a death would be too quick so I pushed the thought out of my mind.</p><p>I dragged my feet through my apartment and entered my bedroom, taking a longing look at my bed. I took off my gear and just plopped down, letting out a heavy sigh of relief as I began to drift off to sleep. It was late at night by the time I got home, so I figured I’d deal with everything else when I woke up.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Back for More</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After I woke up, I took some time to clean up after yesterday’s big raid on Xanathar’s lair. I had a quick bite to eat for breakfast in my apartment then went about cleaning my blades, taking extra care to clean Kaz’s, of course. It was dirty and in rough shape, but at least it was still in one piece. It took a while, but I managed to get it looking good as new. I washed up then went about emptying Kaz’s old backpack. I figured if we were going to head back into the lair, I might as well have some extra carrying capacity in case we came across some loot. Xanathar no longer had any use for it, so it was fair game. The City Watch could have everything else when we were done. After I had taken care of everything I needed to, I headed on out to continue my day.</p><p>Since we had no schedule for the day, I decided to stop by a bathhouse to relax before meeting up with the others. I usually didn’t go to them, but after what we’d been through, I decided it was the right time to indulge in a little relaxation. I spent a good hour or so soaking in the heated waters, just letting my aching body rest and loosen up.</p><p>While I was there, I heard some people talking beside me. They seemed to be mages or something based on what they were talking about. I did my best not to eavesdrop on their conversation until they mentioned something about resurrection. I feigned to not be paying attention as I continued to listen in on them, remaining inconspicuous off to the side. They continued on, talking about a very powerful resurrection spell they had heard about during their studies. Apparently, it was capable of bringing someone back from the dead even without any of their body being present. Unfortunately, it was rumored to be very expensive and difficult, so there weren’t many people around who could do it, if it was indeed possible in the first place. I tried not to get my hopes up but kept a mental note of it. If there really was a way to bring Kaz, I’d do everything in my power to make it so. After I was done relaxing in the bathhouse, I got dressed and grabbed all my things before heading over to Evergreen Tavern.</p><p>When I arrived, everyone was already downstairs in the tavern. I went over to their table and we discussed on what to do next regarding the vault. Since we had all the keys, or at least, to the best of our knowledge, all we needed to do was pick a time to go into the vault. We decided on going tomorrow and have everyone meet at the Evergreen Tavern around noon. Once we were set on that, we headed out to tell everyone the plan.</p><p>While we were out and about, the others wanted to take care of some personal matters before continuing with our business. They wanted to visit the pet shop and browse around for an animal they could buy. I let out a tired sigh then followed after them, really having no use for going to a pet store. I guess since we had the time to spare, it couldn’t hurt.</p><p>When we got there, Jerky and Kailani looked around form something to bring home as a pet. Kailani actually had two objectives, the first being Sylgar and finding food and supplies for him. The second was that she was looking for a crow to buy as a pet. I never figured her for a bird kind of person, but seeing the witch hat still on her head, I guess she wanted to continue with the witch aesthetic. She looked around and managed to find a crow for sale while Jerky picked up a little barn owl. I was bored out of my mind and just played with the foxes there, almost tearing up as one reminded me of Kaz for some reason. After everyone had taken care of what they came for, we left the shop. We made a quick stop back at Evergreen Tavern to drop off Kailani’s crow and fish supplies before continuing on; Arthur decided to pick up his falcon while we were there.</p><p>After that, we decided to head over to the Gentle Mermaid to hire the two dwarf musicians that Arthur met, since they were needed as one of the keys to unlock the vault. We approached the establishment and were halted outside the main entrance. The door guards said that no animals were allowed, so Jerky and Arthur had to either wait outside or leave their animals behind. Jerky managed to bribe her way in with her owl while Arthur just had his falcon wait outside.</p><p>Once we were inside, we all followed Arthur to where he met the dwarves last time. Fortunately, the downstairs area wasn’t blocked off like before, so we were all able to head down there unimpeded. We found the dwarves and were able to talk to them off to the side. We said that we wanted to hire them, so they asked what for. We told them we wanted them to perform at a private event, doing the song “Your Beardy Face” while in traditional dwarven attire. They said they could manage and were available all day tomorrow. We had them meet us at Evergreen Tavern around noon then left to contact Remallia and Renaer. We hurried out of the venue before one of us got caught up in gambling.</p><p>After taking care of hiring the dwarves, we decided to contact Renaer since we knew where he lived. As we were walking, Kailani used a sheet of her magical paper to contact Remallia in the meantime. She wrote on the piece of paper to meet us at Evergreen Tavern around noon the following day. Once she was done, the piece of paper folded into a bird then flew away to deliver the message.</p><p>When we got to Renaer’s residence, we were stunned. It was like a miniature mansion and lavishly decorated. He even had two guards stationed outside to deter any unwanted visitors. I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised, since he was the son of a previous open lord of Waterdeep. We walked up to the guards there and introduced ourselves, saying that we were acquaintances of Renaer and had some business to talk about with him. The guard took a moment to look us over then escorted inside the abode to meet with Renaer.</p><p>The inside of the house was even more finely-decorated than the outside, which was to be expected. He had taxidermy all over the place and paintings on the wall, though, there seemed to be spots where there should have been a painting but wasn’t. I guess he took down some that he no longer fancied or something. Soon after we had arrived, Renaer showed up to greet us and sat down with us in the main chamber by the fireplace. We talked for a while then told him when and where we were going to meet the next day. After we had said everything we needed to, we left his place and went back to the Evergreen Tavern once more.</p><p>The others dropped off their pets then we all prepared to head back to Xanathar’s lair. I had Kaz’s backpack with me that time, so I had plenty of room to carry anything interesting back with me. When we were all ready, we headed out and arrived back in the alley with the secret passageway. The wall was still open, so we made our way down and back into Xanathar’s lair.</p><p>We decided to take the hidden side passage again and start by checking all the side rooms first. The first door we encountered was one on our right, and if I remembered correctly, it was supposed to be some barracks for low-level guild members. I wanted to open the door and see if there was anyone inside, but Jerky stopped me. She wanted to remind us that those we might encounter may not be die-hard followers of Xanathar. Some may have been coerced into joining or joined out of fear. After making that clear, I opened the door carefully and looked inside.</p><p>The room was indeed a barracks and there were six guild members still sleeping inside. Kailani volunteered to head inside and interrogate one, seeing if he was indeed an innocent bystander or a true follower of Xanathar. She looked around and noticed the empty kegs of ale and all the tankards and mugs lying about. It appeared that the guild members there were in a deep sleep and heavily intoxicated. She tried to wake one of them up while holding a dagger, but they wouldn’t budge. Not feeling comfortable killing all of them in their sleep for crimes they may or may not have committed, I suggested we just lock them in there and let the City Watch deal with them. I gathered all the weapons I found and tossed them outside in the hallway. That way, they hopefully wouldn’t be able to break down the door and come looking for us. Once the room was clear, we all exited before Jerky fashioned a sort of wooden barricade on the door to prevent anyone from leaving. I kept a few of the shortswords I took off the guild members and placed them in my empty pack.</p><p>Having taken care of that, we continued on down the hallway. To our left was the area with the four dwarves and magical surveillance gear, but they were nowhere to be found. We quickly investigated the room and found nothing of interest besides a secret passage that Arthur found. We didn’t feel like investigating the passage further, so we went back and continued down the hall we were just in.</p><p>Next, we came to Noska’s private quarters on our right. Kailani really hoped he was still there so she could enact her revenge, but to her dismay, he was not there. After opening the door, we saw a marble bathtub sitting in the middle of the room. It had straw or something in it and seemed to be used as a bed. In the corner of the room was a Rust Monster kept in a wooden cage, so we made sure to keep a wide berth around it lest our metal possessions become nothing but rust. In addition to that, there were bodies skewered to the wall by crossbow bolts and rusted pieces of armor all around on the floor.</p><p>As I was investigating the room, I found a small treasure chest hidden in a pile of rusted helmets. I opened it up and found a small stash of coins and such. There were 37 gold dragons, 151 silver shards, and 360 copper nibs. There were also four bloodstones which were valued at around 50 gold dragons each. I discreetly took the chest and placed it in my backpack. After the rumor I heard while at the bathhouse, I was going to need all the money I could get my hands on.</p><p>After everyone was done looking around, we continued on to the next room. We found ourselves back in Ahmaergo’s room which still had the maze centered in the room. I reminded everyone not touch it, and if they did, they were on their own and I wouldn’t have any pity for them. We all steered clear of it and proceeded to head to the door in the back of the room.</p><p>Looking in to the adjacent room, we saw what appeared to be a maze of sorts. Everyone wanted to go in and see what was at the end, so I relented and joined them. It was dark, so Kailani used her fire so I could see. As we stepped in, I dropped one of the shortswords I confiscated earlier as a sort of breadcrumb. That way, we could follow the trail of weapons I left behind to find our way out in case we got lost. There were a lot of wooden crates around us so we kept wary of any traps. Unfortunately, we missed the tripwire ahead which Jerky triggered, but fortunately, none of us got caught in the trap. All the boxes came crashing down on us but we managed to get away safe and sound. As the dust settled, we could see all four walls of the room and a chest at the far end. There wasn’t anything worthwhile in the crates, so we looked to the chest.</p><p>Jerky managed to get to the chest first and opened it up. She found a rather disturbing-looking sack which seemed to be made of skin sewn together. It didn’t seem to faze her as she opened it up, revealing several gold dragons. Arthur didn’t want any of it, citing he had plenty of gems from the treasure chest he found in the large fish bowl. As such, she then divided it amongst her, Kailani, and me, each of us receiving 40 gold dragons. I graciously took the coins and stuffed them into my pack. After finishing up with Ahmaergo’s room, all that was left in the hallway was Thorvin’s workshop.</p><p>I wanted to get in there and destroy whatever machine Kailani and the others said he was working on. The personal project of his was evil and nothing good could come from it. As we approached the workshop and opened the door, we were all left in disappointment as we saw nothing but an empty room. Not a single thing remained and it was completely cleared out. I was furious at myself for letting him go and now he was out there, free to carry on with his dastardly research. I should’ve arrested him while I had the chance. Since there was nothing left to investigate, we continued on and made our way into Xanathar’s sanctum.</p><p>We had to pass by the dead zombie Beholder to get into the audience chamber and it was rather repulsive. I thought it looked bad while it was still “alive” and moving, but seeing it as a giant heap of dead flesh was severely worse. After that, we saw all the dead guild members still strewn about during our escape the day prior. Passing by all the carnage we left behind, we finally arrived back in the sanctum. We were kind of hoping to find Ott still restrained in the corner of the room, but he was missing. Other than the fishbowl, there wasn’t much else to investigate so we continued back to where Xanathar’s supposed Dream Machine was.</p><p>In the back room, we saw a small wooden pallet with raggedy blankets on it. We guessed that was where Ott used to sleep when he was still tending to Sylgar at Xanathar’s command. Above it, we saw a large, magical orb which we guessed was the device that prevented Xanathar from having too bad of a dream while he slept. There wasn’t much we could do with it, so we left it for the City Watch to handle.</p><p>After taking a look around and finding nothing of interest, we decided to take a detour into a side passageway. We weren’t exactly sure where it led, so we consulted the map and found a vague idea of where it was leading us. We carried on and came to a dead end with a stone slab covering the only exit. Kailani and Jerky tried to lift the stone obstruction, but it wouldn’t move. It took some effort, but Arthur managed to get it open just enough for us to slip on through. Jerky and Kailani were first to go and hastily jumped down, landing with a rough fall. I took a more careful approach and grabbed the edge, letting myself hang before dropping down below. After I had moved out of the way, Arthur came down and joined us.</p><p>We were in a new area of the lair, so we proceeded in a relatively cautious manner. We continued down a hallway and were approaching an open area. As Kailani turned the corner to see what was there, she came face-to-face with seven Kuo-toa. She reacted out of surprise and fired a large fireball right into the middle of the group, taking out six of them in one shot. We all then rushed out and took care of the last remaining one. Once the area was clear, we continued clearing out the lair room by room.</p><p>Kailani picked one of the siderooms and went in, followed closely by the rest of us. Inside, we were greeted with a horrifying sight. There were dead bodies and blood everywhere. I couldn’t even tell you all of it and won’t bother describing it. I’ll just say it was downright gut-wrenching. Anyway, we saw someone still alive and strapped to a table. They were covered in rags and rambling incoherently. Kailani went over to him and tried to see what was wrong but couldn’t figure it out. Since he had no weapons and didn’t seem hostile, I suggested that we just cut him loose and let him leave.</p><p>As we were about to cut the straps, we noticed some incisions on his head and figured he had been lobotomized. Since there was nothing left he could do, we decided that a euthanasia was the only thing left for him. Arthur volunteered to do it and did a rather horrible job of it. I would’ve recommended a clean thrust of the dagger behind the neck to sever the nervous system. That way, he wouldn’t feel any pain and it would be a clean kill. Instead, Arthur just took his bladed shield and sliced the poor man across the neck with it, causing blood to gush out as he gasped for air. It was too late to do anything to ease the pain, so the man just bled out. We checked the other prisoners but they were already dead.</p><p>After we had cleared the room, we continued through another door and saw what appeared to be an execution area. There was a stone chair in the center with a male Drow strapped to it. There was blood all around but the Drow seemed to be still alive. There was a large iron gate that led back out to the main area where we killed all the Kuo-toa, but it was closed. The only way back was the way we came through the torture chamber.</p><p>The rest of the group and I approached the Drow and began to ask him questions, but he was rather uncooperative. He just kept being combative and telling us to free him. We just wanted to know who he was and if he was going to be a problem if we freed him, but no. He wouldn’t even give us his name. Eventually, he told us a little bit about himself as I began to try and pick the lock to his restraints. He said that he was from Skullport and that he and his superior, a female Drow named Reylan, were captured by members of Xanathar’s Guild. He told us that she was probably in the cell block nearby and that we needed to hurry. There was an eldritch creature with tentacles just in the adjacent room. Having heard that, Arthur stacked up on the door while Kailani directed her attention towards it, ready to attack if anything came out of it. As I pondered what the creature could be while fiddling with the Drow’s restraints, the door opened as a Mindflayer stood in the doorway.</p><p>Immediately, Kailani acted on pure panic and opened up the fight with a tremendous lightning bolt. The streak of lightning struck the Mindflayer and what seemed to be an Intellect Devourer behind it. As the others began to attack the new contacts, I hurried to try and get the Drow free from the chair so that he could help us. The pressure was on and I was having a hard time picking the lock.</p><p>Things were looking dire as several more Intellect Devourers came bursting out of the room behind the Mindflayer. They started attacking everyone and Arthur was the first to go down. An Intellect Devourer had to have done something which caused Arthur to just faint and drop to the floor. At the time, I had no idea if he was dead or what, so I thought about just forgetting the Drow and helping the others fight.</p><p>As soon as I set aside my lock-picking tools and stood up, I happened to see the Mindflayer attacking Kailani and knocked her to the ground. Kailani was barely breathing and I felt a knot twist in my gut, a horrible feeling which I had experienced not too long ago when she went down while fighting Xanathar. I gritted my teeth and drew my swords, looking to the Mindflayer to exact revenge. After taking one step, I felt my entire body freeze up and I was suddenly unable to move. I couldn’t even speak as I looked to the Mindflayer. It seemed to have paralyzed me somehow which left Jerky as the only one left to save us.</p><p>I helplessly looked on as Jerky fought valiantly, taking out a few more Intellect Devourers which left only one more and the Mindflayer. Arthur was still knocked out or worse and Kailani was still hanging on. The Drow in front of me seemed to be still alive but paralyzed as well. Jerky continued to fight for her life and was our only hope. Thankfully, she managed to kill the Mindflayer before it could do any more serious harm, but that left the last Intellect Devourer which was right behind her. As the Mindflayer died, the paralysis wore off which allowed me to move. I hurried to Jerky’s aid and thrust my swords down into the last remaining enemy. The brain with limbs ceased moving and died by my blades.</p><p>After all the enemies had been taken care of, I rushed over to Kailani while Jerky checked on Arthur. I took out a Potion of Healing and administered it to Kailani which stabilized her condition. I made sure she was all right and helped her up. While she took a moment to regain her composure, I went over to Jerky who wasn’t sure what was wrong with Arthur. He was still seemingly alive and breathing, but he wouldn’t wake up. Whatever was wrong with him was out of our capacity to fix, so I told her we needed to get him back to the Order of the Gauntlet as soon as possible.</p><p>While we were attending to Arthur, the Drow from before was still secured to the chair and asking us to set him free already. I went over to pick up my lock-picking tools and continued to undo the restraints, but I was still having trouble. The locks were old and a bit more complicated than I thought they’d be. After Kailani had recovered, she went over to then Mindflayer to look for a possible key to unlock the straps. She checked his corpse and eventually found the key. She walked over to the Drow and undid his straps which finally released him from his bondage.</p><p>The Drow told us that he needed to find his companion immediately and needed our help. I gave him the last shortsword I had confiscated but told him we couldn’t accompany him. We had to leave as soon as we could to seek medical attention for our friend. The Drow was adamant that we help him since the cell block was so close. Kailani felt a bit guilty to just leave him behind along with his friend, so after some talking, she and I agreed to help him while Jerky stayed behind with Arthur. The cell block was nearby so we followed the Drow there. Before leaving, I took a Potion of Superior Healing to give myself some needed extra help.</p><p>The three of us continued to the prisoner cell block quickly but carefully. When we entered, we spotted three more Kuo-toa but we easily took them out. They were nothing compared to the Mindflayer and Intellect Devourers we had just fought. Once the jailers had been dealt with, we checked the cells for the Drow’s missing companion. Most of the cells were empty, and we eventually found his missing superior who was still alive and well, but we also happened to find another person there.</p><p>In one of the cells there, we happened to find Captain Staget of the City Watch. Both Kailani and I were familiar with him and had seen him around the station, though we had no idea he had gone missing. We helped the captain up and he was grateful to us for saving him, saying he had been done there for weeks. After we had cleared the cell block, the two Drow thanked us for saving them then left to find a way back to their home in Skullport. Meanwhile, Kailani and I helped the captain back to where Jerky and Arthur were waiting for us. We picked them up and decided to leave the rest of the lair to the City Watch. We all went back topside and made it back to the alleyway.</p><p>Once we were safely out of the lair, Captain Staget thanked us once more then left to see his family whom he deeply missed. After he left, Jerky and I helped Arthur to the Order of the Gauntlet HQ while Kailani went to find a healing church and see if anyone there could help us. When we got to the Order, they helped bring Arthur into their medical wing for a diagnosis to see what was wrong with him.</p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. A Minor Setback</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few days were mainly spent tying up loose ends and trying to get Arthur back to normal. While Arthur was in the Order of the Gauntlet’s care, the rest of us had to take care of the aftermath of our raid on Xanathar’s lair.</p><p>When noon the next day came around, Jerky had to go to the Evergreen Tavern and tell everyone the excursion into the vault had been postponed. She told Remallia and Renaer what happened with Arthur and would contact them when we were ready again. She also apologized to the two dwarf performers and paid them for their services, telling them that we’d hire them again at another point in time. After they all left the tavern, Jerky returned to Arthur’s side at the Order of the Gauntlet’s HQ to see how he was doing.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kailani and I had to deal with the City Watch and explain to them what happened in Xanathar’s lair. After he was done reconnecting with his family, Captain Staget went to the City Watch and told them about his time in captivity and how we saved him. As such, Kailani and I had to report in to Sergeant Cromley and explain what had happened. When I met her at her desk, she had the eyestalk from Xanathar that she looted off of him. She wanted to show it to Cromley as proof but I voiced my opposition against it, telling her it was probably better to leave it at her desk. If we needed it, we knew where to find it, but there was no need to start off strong like that by slapping it down on his desk. She relented and left it behind as we made our way over to Cromley’s office.</p><p>It turned out that Sergeant Cromley and Captain Staget were good friends, so Cromley was very eager to know what we were doing there and how we saved his friend. Since Kailani was shaking in her boots from nervousness and anxiety, I did most of the talking and gave an alternate version of the narrative that I came up with on the spot. I didn’t want to reveal anything about the Stone of Golorr or the hidden vault of Lord Neverember if I didn’t have to, not yet anyway.</p><p>I explained that since the last time we reported in, we had been continuing with our investigation into the Xanathar Guild and its members. We had been tailing a suspected high-ranking guild member and eventually tracked him to the secret entrance to the lair. We watched as he opened the secret passageway, and once he was gone, we recreated the actions that opened up the wall. Once it was open, we ventured down and began to look around. We noticed all the eyeballs carved into the walls and figured we had stumbled upon a large Xanathar Guild member stronghold.</p><p>Since it was just Kailani and I, we backed away and decided to get some reinforcements. After hearing rumors about a potential mole within the City Watch, we decided to look elsewhere for more support in case the mole tipped off the guild about our impending raid. Besides, we were well aware of how overworked the City Watch was already and probably didn’t have the manpower to spare for such an endeavor.</p><p>The Order of the Gauntlet was where we turned to since they had been very helpful in our investigation already, helping us out on numerous occasions. We contacted the leader of the order, Savra Belabranta, and asked if she could spare some knights to aid in the raid. She said she’d join us personally and pledged her support, relishing that it was going to be a joint City Watch and Order of the Gauntlet effort. She wanted to further solidify her order’s willingness to cooperate with the authorities. She, along with two of her knights, accompanied us during the raid.</p><p>Once we had consulted with them, we organized a plan of attack and executed it. Along with Savra and two of her knights, a few very powerful private citizens accompanied us. I told the sergeant that along with our friends Arthur and Jerky, two of their acquaintances -Remallia Haventree and Three-Strings- also accompanied us. I left out the fact that there was any Harper involvement because of, well, professional courtesy and such. I also left out the fact that Renaer joined us since it was a bit difficult to explain his involvement, you know, him being tied to the vault and all.</p><p>Cromley continued to listen to my story and took notes as I was talking. When we got to the lair, however, I did a lot less lying and told him straight up how it went but still left out a thing or two. I told him we interrogated one of Xanathar’s trusted advisors and found out that we had indeed found Xanathar’s lair. We pushed him for more information and gained a map for our efforts. We used said map to traverse through the lair and ended up encountering Xanathar himself in the crypt.</p><p>We engaged Xanathar in mortal combat and ended up victorious, slaying the Beholder without any deaths occurring. Sure we were beat up, but no one had died which Cromley was relieved to hear. After we had taken Xanathar out, we traversed back into the lair to continue our assault against more Xanathar’s Guild members. In the ensuing battles, I told him we managed to take out Ahmaergo who was Xanathar’s second-in-command, a zombie Beholder, and nine regular guild members.</p><p>After the second major battle, I told Savra, her knights, Remallia, and Three-Strings to take the civilians we saved -meaning Bepis the chef and Flutterfott the jester- and head back topside to bring them to safety. The rest of my group and I were going to continue securing the lair. That, of course, was a lie but I had to make it sound like we did everything all in one day or else it’d look suspicious. So, once it was just me, Kailani, Jerky, and Arthur, we continued on.</p><p>Cromley seemed to be buying the story so far, so I kept going while Kailani just stood there, trying her best to keep her bearing. I continued on and said that we encountered the prison area, killing a total of ten Kuo-toa that were stationed there as guards and jailers. I also mentioned how we heroically dispatched a Mindflayer and several of its Intellect Devourers. I didn’t go in depth about how we all almost died and made it seem more like a fair fight. After we freed the Drow there, we went to free the rest of the prisoners. Then we encountered Captain Staget and immediately left thereafter to safely escort him back topside.</p><p>Once I was done talking, Kailani and I were just left standing there as Cromley took a moment to absorb everything I had just told him. Like the last time we reported to him together, he gave us a laundry list of all the ways we broke protocol and such; however, unlike last time, Cromley actually congratulated us on a job well done, albeit barely. This time, we had a lot more going for us than last time we got reprimanded. We managed to neutralize our main target, Xanathar, as well as several secondary targets that would’ve proved dangerous on their own. We freed some innocents we found there and saved lives, doing it all without having any casualties of our own. The thing that really helped us was saving his pal, Captain Staget. Staget was able to give some weight to the story I fed Cromley so that helped out a lot. With all that said, he mentioned something about putting in a recommendation for us to receive a commendation for our efforts. After everything was done and said, he told us to make sure we wrote everything up in a formal report then dismissed us. Kailani and I acknowledged and left his office, heading back to our desks to write up the vast amount of paperwork we had waiting for us.</p><p>I could tell Kailani was a bit overwhelmed by all this, so I did my best to help her while writing my own reports. It took us most of the day to get everything written down on paper, but we eventually managed. After we were done, we had a quick bite to eat then went back to the Order of the Gauntlet to see if Arthur had come to yet.</p><p>When we got to the headquarters, we were escorted in and brought to where Arthur was being kept. There were several clerics from the order around him, doing their best to heal him. When Jerky and I first brought him there, we told them what happened and that an Intellect Devourer had attacked him. They were still having trouble trying to get Arthur back to normal, so they continued to keep him stable at the very least and monitored his condition.</p><p>After a while, someone came by to visit Arthur whom I did not recognize. He said he was his father and after we explained the situation to him, he came up with an idea about how to fix his son. He went through Arthur’s things and retrieved his Ring of Intelligence, one of the items he had given his son to aid in his endeavors. He told the clerics there that if they could help Arthur attune to the ring, that should do the trick and bring him back to normal. Arthur’s father gave the ring to the clerics and they began conducting a ritual to help Arthur attune to it. Kailani, Jerky, and I stayed off to the side and watched them work, praying that it would be enough to bring our companion back. I just stood there slightly concerned while Kailani and Jerky were in near tears, doing all they could to help out wherever possible.</p><p>The clerics did their best, and after what seemed like an hour or so, we heard movement from Arthur’s bed. We all looked on in anticipation as Arthur began to slowly regain consciousness. He opened his eyes and looked around, seeing Kailani and Jerky right there beside him at his bed side. After waking up, he was a bit delirious and thought we were still in the lair fighting the Mindflayer. Seeing that he was more or less okay, Kailani gave him a big hug before going around and thanking each and every cleric in the room. After Kailani and Jerky had their fill of welcoming Arthur back, I went over and patted him on the shoulder, saying that I was glad to see him back to his usual self.</p><p>Once Arthur had fully recovered from his near-vegetable state, we continued with our plan to enter the vault. We coordinated a time and day for everyone to meet at the Evergreen Tavern again. While we waited around, we made sure all our affairs were in order. The hard part was over with, so all we had to do was get in and secure the gold, or at least, that was what we thought.</p><p>I later found out that after Kailani and I had reported back to Sergeant Cromley, he organized a strike team to finish off Xanathar’s lair. During one of my visits to the station, I happened to read a copy of the report that was left on my desk. Apparently, Cromley organized a large task force to finish what the others and I had started in Xanathar’s lair. It included members of the Order of the Gauntlet, since they were originally involved; members of the City Watch; and a few members from Force Grey. They stormed the lair and took out any remnants that may had been still lurking down there. They ended up freeing a few more people stuck down there as they cleared the rest of the stronghold. They even neutralized the Mindflayer’s brain pool which we had to unfortunately leave unchecked by our sudden departure. Cromley’s strike team cleared the entire lair and took care of the bodies that were still left from our earlier incursion there.</p><p>I was glad he managed to get everything organized so quickly. The evidence they found there helped corroborate my story and further increased its credibility. Maybe after we opened the vault, I’d tell him everything. Maybe.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. The Vault</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the appointed time came, we all met at Evergreen Tavern then proceeded to the Pink Flumph. We made sure we had all three keys before departing: the Drift Globe that emitted daylight which Arthur had, the keg of alcohol from Ratarock’s Ale which I was carrying on my back, and the two dwarf musicians dressed in traditional dwarven garb to perform the song “Your Beardy Face”. Everything was ready to go and Remallia and Renaer were accompanying us like they wanted to.</p><p>Upon arriving at the theater, we were easily granted access to the premises by the owner unlike last time. Thankfully during the days that Arthur was recovering, Renaer had worked his magic on Iokaste, making it easier for us to gain access to her theater without any questions asked. The City Watch guards were still stationed there and reported that nothing unusual had happened during their shifts. When we entered Yaliek’s dressing room, we politely told Yaliek to leave us in case something dangerous happened. She thankfully did as she was told and closed the door behind her on her way out, leaving us alone in the room to make our way through the magical trap door.</p><p>I cut through the carpet again with my knife and revealed the trapdoor for Remallia. She effortlessly used her magic and removed the magical lock, finally allowing us to pull open the trap door. Down below, we saw a ladder that led further underneath the Pink Flumph. As soon as the way was clear, Jerky and Kailani rushed over to be the first ones down. I couldn’t make out who made it there first, but before I knew it, they were both down the hatch and climbing down the ladder. I just sighed and adjusted the makeshift straps I was using to secure the keg of ale on my back. When it was my turn, I carefully got a foothold on the ladder and proceeded to make my way down at a careful pace.</p><p>After everyone had made it down the ladder, we looked around and continued down a path. The ground below us began to transition from natural cave rock to man-made tiles the further we walked along. The cavern we were in was still and quiet, the only sounds being made coming from our footsteps and occasional chatter. There wasn’t much light down there, so Kailani used her magic to produce some fire for those of us who couldn’t see in the dark.</p><p>Ahead of us, we came to a very old-looking dwarven ruin. There were stone statues of ancient dwarves along the walls and as we got closer, we came upon a large, metal door. It appeared to be made of adamantine and was nigh impenetrable. Above the doorway was a dwarven inscription which Jerky was able to read aloud for us. It said something about presenting the three keys, so we happily obliged.</p><p>Arthur took out the Drift Globe he had obtained a while ago and activated it, shining a bright light on the door. While he was doing that, I removed the keg of ale from my back and set it down on the ground. After taking out a tankard from my pack, I approached the door with the keg to see if there was a spot to pour some ale but couldn’t find one. Not knowing exactly what to do, I poured some ale into the tankard then splashed it on the door to see if it’d do anything. By that time, the two dwarf musicians had begun performing “Your Beardy Face” in an authentic, traditional dwarven fashion. The door didn’t seem to react, so I kept splashing some ale on it. Remallia and Kailani had tankards as well and walked over to me, deciding to take the opportunity to have a quick drink using some of the ale from the keg.</p><p>We were beginning to get worried as nothing seemed to happen. Arthur continued to hold up the Drift Globe while I splashed tankard after tankard of ale onto the door. A small puddle started to form at the door’s base as the ale dripped down the door and collected there. The dwarves were about halfway through the song then it happened. Some mechanism within the door clicked loudly as it seemingly unlocked itself. The door then slowly began to open and revealed the way forward much to our delight. After the dwarves had finished their performance, we thanked them for the song then paid them for their services. Figuring we no longer needed them, we dismissed them before we ran into anything that might endanger their lives.</p><p>When it was just us, Remallia, and Renaer, we decided to proceed through the vault door. I didn’t bother bringing the keg with us, so I just left it behind at the entrance. Inside, we continued to see more ancient dwarven ruins, noticing several stone columns and bridges in severe states of neglect and disrepair. Further into the ruins, we entered a large room with several sets of metal doors, about 12, I think. After checking around for traps or anything suspicious, we found nothing then started investigating the sets of doors.</p><p>I remained on alert towards the center of the room, just in case any of the doors opened to reveal something hostile behind it. That, or if opening the doors triggered a trap or whatnot; one couldn’t be too cautious. After trying several of the doors and being unable to open them, Jerky finally found a set of doors that opened rather easily, though it did screech and creak loudly as it opened. The other doors were false doors and didn’t lead anywhere. Hearing the doors open, we all went over to her and scouted out the area inside the doorway.</p><p>There was a hallway to the left that led to a set of stairs while the way to the right led to a dead end. At the dead end, there was an old fresco on a wall depicting ancient dwarves fighting goblins. It was old and faded but still somewhat recognizable. Most of the group and I went left, anxious to get to the treasure as quickly as possible. Kailani, on the other hand, decided to explore a bit more and went to investigate the room with the piece of artwork. I watched her leave and kept an eye on her while the others looked around the stairs.</p><p>Kailani began investigating the room with the fresco and seemed to be checking for any hidden passageways or something. Suddenly, she just stopped moving and continued to stare at the artwork. I thought maybe she saw something in the scene depicted on the wall and was trying to figure it out, but I wasn’t sure. Eventually, the group wanted to continue on and called after Kailani to come along, but she didn’t more or respond. We started to walk further away but she didn’t budge, still remaining in place in front of the fresco as she continued to look at it. Jerky called out to her once more, but Kailani was insistent on remaining there with the fresco. Beginning to grow fed up with her, Jerky went over and started to pull Kailani away from the fresco. As she did, Kailani began to get hysterical and continued to look at the fresco to the best of her ability.</p><p>At that point, I started to suspect something was up as did Remallia. Remallia then went over to the fresco and managed to withstand whatever was causing Kailani to act the way she was. She gave it a closer look and deduced that it was an enchanted trap. It had gained a certain influence over Kailani after she had gotten within a certain distance of it. She went over to Kailani and made sure everyone knew not to get close to the fresco. She did some quick magic and dispelled whatever magical hold the fresco had over Kailani, freeing her of her stupor. As soon as she was free, Kailani hurled a firebolt at the fresco in resentment, scorching part of it while most of the rest remained intact. She then went over towards the rest of us and didn’t look back.</p><p>Once that was over with, we climbed the stairs to see what was up ahead. While we were dealing with Kailani and the fresco, Arthur had consulted with the stone to ask it another question, wondering what the quickest way to the treasure was. He told us that the stone only replied by saying “the middle one”. Like usual, the answer was vague so we just let it slip to the back of our minds for now.</p><p>When we got to the top of the stairs, we were in an open area with three stone bridges ahead of us. We appeared to be right above the area from before with the numerous sets of metal doors. The six of us dispersed onto the landing and looked around, also noticing that there was a large metal door leading into a room at the end of each bridge. Taking Golorr’s advice from earlier into consideration, we decided not to bother with the side bridges and focused on the middle one. Of course, the probably correct bridge we had to get across was the only one that was out, though, it didn’t look too bad and seemed manageable enough to jump across.</p><p>We walked over to the edge of the bridge and looked across the gap, seeing the closed metal door. Before we could plan a safe way across, Arthur got a running start then leapt across, using some magic to give him an extra boost. We all watched as he safely cleared the gap, landing on the other side. He did a roll to break his fall then got up, dusting himself off.</p><p>Seeing that Arthur made the jump relatively easily, Jerky decided to give it a shot. She got a running start then jumped off the edge. Unfortunately, she misjudged the distance and came up short; though, she had a special ability that slowed her fall, so she was able to reach the ground safely without getting hurt. Once she got to the bottom, she made her way back up to us by taking the same path as before.</p><p>In the meantime, Arthur looked around the other side of the bridge then carefully opened the doors to see what was inside. It was sturdy and seemingly made of adamantine just like the main vault door. There didn’t seem to be any traps or hostiles inside, so Arthur continued on without us. He told us he saw several sets of old armor and not much else. As he was looking around, he found an inscription on the wall that was written in dwarvish, so he waited for Jerky to get back before he relayed it to us.</p><p>When Jerky got back to us, Arthur proceeded to tell her about the dwarven inscription, however, he did it in the most unusual of ways. Since he couldn’t actually read or pronounce dwarvish, he used his hands and traced out the letters to Jerky, writing them in the air with his finger. Somehow, Jerky understood what he was writing and managed to translate it all for us, saying that we needed to say a secret for something inside the room to happen. I wasn’t too keen on saying anything at the moment and the others hesitated as well. It was a good thing we waited because inside the room, Arthur must’ve said something which triggered a trapdoor to open. He told us a passage had opened in the floor and waited for us to get over to him across the bridge.</p><p>Jerky tried to cross the gap once and jumped, this time making it with ease. Remallia and Renaer tried their luck as well and cleared the gap after a running jump. Then it was just me and Kailani on the other side of the bridge, anxious to jump across. Well, Kailani was anxious and apparently afraid of heights; I was more worried about the bridge collapsing under me since I was one of the heavier members of the group. I told Kailani she could go first in case I happened to break the bridge. She mustered up enough courage then ran to the edge before jumping, making it across with no problem at all.</p><p>Once everyone was across, it was just me left standing on the other side. I got some distance between me and the edge then prepared to make the jump. As I was getting my running start, the end of the bridge I was on crumbled as I stepped onto it. I lost my footing and missed the jump as I looked to the others across the way. Jerky acted quickly and jumped after me, grabbing hold of me and positioning herself below me so she’d take the brunt of the fall damage. Just as she did that, we hit something which stopped our fall, except we weren’t lying on the ground. We both opened our eyes and saw that we were floating in midair, seemingly lying on some invisible surface. We looked up to see Remallia looking at us, apparently having cast a spell to break our fall. The others quickly let down a rope for us to climb up so we did. After getting back up, I thanked both Jerky and Remallia for helping me out.</p><p>After regrouping with the others, we proceeded into the room with Arthur and looked to the trapdoor that had just opened up. There was a staircase that spiraled down. We all looked to each other then proceeded carefully down its steps. At the bottom, we found more ruins and a large area with several alcoves. We continued to walk forward, and after a few turns, we saw it. The large pile of gold dragons situated in a corner glistened in the feint light of the cavernous room. We looked on in awe as we slowly began to approach the horde of gold.</p><p>Suddenly, we were approached by a very old-looking dwarf wearing a cloak and carrying a golden staff, topped with a red and gold dragon figure. He told us that we were trespassing in his home then told us to leave. Confused, we confronted him about who he was and what he was doing there. He didn’t tell us his name, but he did tell us that he was there to protect the gold, not allowing anyone except those on a special list to gain access to it. The list of names were given to him by Lord Neverember, Renaer’s father. We told them that Renaer was there to claim the treasure on behalf of his father, though, Renaer was surprisingly not on the list and not allowed to obtain the gold. Jerky got fed up with all the talking and proceeded to walk past the dwarf, heading over towards the large mountain of gold.</p><p>We watched Jerky casually walk over to the stacks of gold and stand right in front of it. Just as she reached out to pick up a coin, the dwarf standing in front of us suddenly transformed into an adult Gold Dragon and turned towards her. I was surprised to say the least and slowly drew my swords, unsure of how we were going to take on such a foe. I mean, we defeated a Beholder and a Mindflayer, but a dragon was on a totally different level.</p><p>Seeing that Jerky was in danger, we attacked the dragon since it was the first to act hostile. To be honest, I didn’t feel wholly comfortable attacking the dragon like we did, but it was in our way and hindered us from taking control of the gold. That was my way of bringing her back, the only way I could see my beloved Kaz once more. I just had to get my hands on a portion of that gold at all costs.</p><p>The ensuing battle was challenging and harrowing as I came close to dying. If it were not for my companions, I surely would’ve died. In the initial few moments of the battle, I suddenly felt my body freeze, unable to move as the dragon let out a fearsome roar. Even after all I had been through, I was unexpectedly struck with fear and couldn’t move a muscle. Renaer seemed to be in a similar state as he was ahead of me, also unmoving. It took us a few seconds, but we were eventually able to move, although barely as we kept our distance from the dragon.</p><p>Things took a turn for the worst when Renaer and I got caught out in the open. As Arthur was on top of the dragon hitting it with his shield, Remallia and Kailani continued to attack it at range using their magic. The dragon turned its attention towards them and saw Renaer and me in its way. While we were trying to get into a better position, the dragon let out a giant breath of fire which engulfed Renaer and me in a wave of fire.</p><p>I felt the breath in my lungs suddenly disappear as I gasped for air, nearly burnt to a crisp as I fell to my knees before falling onto my back. Renaer wasn’t fairing any better as we both were lying on the stone ground, barely clinging to life. As I laid there, I began thinking the worst. Was that it? After all that, and with the treasure right in front of us, were we about to get snuffed out with our goal so close? I felt myself fading as I began to think about Kaz once more, nearly in tears as I thought about how I wasn’t going to be able to bring her back. A moment of solace momentarily came over me as I thought about joining her in the afterlife, wherever she was.</p><p>As I was letting my mind wander, Kailani rushed over to me and smacked me awake, using her magic to give me some healing. The healing did the trick and I was able to breathe normally. She then left her shortbow and quiver of arrows on my chest before hurrying back into cover. I guess she figured I could use a means of attacking at range since I didn’t have any. As the air filled my lungs, I thanked her in a raspy voice before getting back to my feet, joining her behind a large, stone pillar with the bow and quiver in my hands.</p><p>Just as I was about to sling the quiver over my shoulder and prepare the bow, the dragon let out a final roar as it came crashing to the ground, making the floor tremble slightly in its wake. Kailani and I peeked around the column to see the dragon motionless on the ground, seemingly having succumbed to the many wounds the others had inflicted on it. Seeing the dragon dead, I was thankful to the others that they managed to bring it down, mainly because I hadn’t landed a single hit on it.</p><p>After things had calmed down, I handed Kailani back her bow and quiver then breathed a heavy sigh. It was finally over, at least, so I thought. We all congregated over by the dead dragon and made sure it wouldn’t be bothering us anymore. While we were there, we got a closer look at the piles of gold dragons beside us. Ignoring the dragon for now, we looked to the gold then noticed a smaller pile of gemstones off to the side. Since most of the party didn’t want to take the gold for ourselves, instead wanting to hand it all back to the people of Waterdeep, we looked to the gems as a sort of consolation payment.</p><p>Arthur and the others figured the gems belonged exclusively to the dragon, thinking it was its payment or even a source of food. Since we already promised Remallia fifteen percent of the gold, the rest of us gathered around the gems to start divvying it up. I was just interested in the diamonds and managed to only find three, which I pocketed. Seeing as that wasn’t enough, I went over to the stacks of gold and took off my backpack. I opened it up and started scooping gold coins into it like Remallia was doing beside me with her bag.</p><p>While Arthur and Kailani had moved from the gems to looting the dragon, Jerky came over to me to ask what I was doing, a hint of disappointment in her voice. Not wanting to talk about Kaz and the real reason I was taking the gold, I just told her it was for a personal reason. She continued to pester me about how it was the people’s gold and such, so I just told her I was a citizen of Waterdeep too. I was going to retire from the City Watch and the gold I was taking was my retirement payment for past services rendered.</p><p>My reasons didn’t seem to jive well with Jerky which caused her to storm off. Arthur saw her leave inexplicably and hurried after her, wanting to see what was wrong. I just ignored her and continued to fill my bag with as much gold coins as it would hold. By then, Kailani had managed to get a single gold scale from the dragon then walked over to me.</p><p>Kailani knew what I was up to and said that taking the gold probably wasn’t the best idea. I reiterated why I was doing it, to hopefully bring back my darling using a very powerful spell. She then suggested that the Open Lord, Lady Laeral Silverhand, would probably grant us a reward for returning the contents of the vault to the people. She said it’d be better to ask her to bring Kaz back rather than steal the gold to do it on my own. As she spoke, I stopped what I was doing and just remained an all fours, staring at the all the gold before me. It was all right there and the means to bring Kaz back was within my grasp. I began to break down and cry, completely missing Kaz as Kailani patted me on the back before walking off. Once I had gotten hold of myself, I emptied my bag of all the coins then just sat there, looking around the vault as I tried to further get a grip on myself.</p><p>After hanging around the gold for a bit, we decided to leave the vault to notify Lady Silverhand of the situation. Remallia had stuffed her bag to capacity with gold while Kailani and Renaer were talking off to the side. After he had chatted with Kailani, Renaer then went over to the dragon and retrieved the staff that was still clutched in its grasp. Arthur hadn’t returned and neither had Jerky. We figured they were waiting for us up above or something, so we weren’t too concerned by their absence.</p><p>About halfway on our way back through the vault, we heard a loud thunderous sound coming from the entrance to the vault. It felt like the ruins were coming down on us, so we hurried to get out of the vault as quickly as possible. We just hoped that the vault wouldn’t totally cave in on itself and block us from getting back to the treasure. Upon reaching the entrance, we began to see figures in the distance just outside the vault. As we got closer, we saw what appeared to be Bugbears out in front of us. It seemed like they were discombobulated and meandered about before hiding out of sight behind some rocks.</p><p>I let out another heavy sigh as I wasn’t prepared for another fight, and I don’t think the others were either. Seeing that we had no other choice than to confront them head-on, we prepared ourselves the best we could. We didn’t see Arthur and Jerky anywhere, so perhaps they hadn’t gotten this far yet and were elsewhere in the vault or something. I was still feeling a bit rough, so I took my last two remaining Potions of Healing and my Potion of Hydration to give me a fighting chance. Once we were ready, we left the vault and were immediately confronted with a voice echoing from further into the cavern.</p><p>We stopped and prepared for an attack, looking all around for the source of the voice. It sounded familiar but the acoustics of the cavern changed it slightly. We then caught glimpse of a dwarf in the distance poking his head out from behind a rock. He looked at us then came fully into view. Kailani and I sneered as it was Noska, the Xanathar’s Guild member we first met in the Dock Ward. Kailani was itching to get revenge and was let down when he wasn’t present in Xanathar’s lair. Now he was there and she could finally get her revenge for shooting a crossbow bolt at her earlier.</p><p>Noska addressed us from across the cavern, saying that we had ruined his life by taking out Xanathar and his lair. He had been spying on us and followed us to the Pink Flumph. He had nothing left to live for and was going to do his best to make us suffer for it. After all that was said, he raised his crossbow arm and fired an explosive bolt above us. As the bolt detonated above, I got caught in the blast and felt the force of the explosion. I was barely able to remain standing as the Bugbears came out of hiding to attack. They were attacking us from both our left and right flank, so we spread out to take them on.</p><p>The beginning of the fight was rather straightforward. I targeted the closest enemy and began to swing at it. It was closing in on Remallia so I did my best to keep it away from her since she was more of a ranged spellcaster than a close-in melee fighter. Noska seemed to be keeping his distance as he fired his crossbow at us. As I was fighting, I noticed him taking aim at Remallia and moved to put myself between him and her. I figured I owned her for catching me earlier and sparing me from a great fall, so I gladly used myself as a human-shield. It was a good thing I did, because Noska’s aim was true and would’ve hit her had I not intervened.</p><p>The bolt caught me in the shoulder and was really painful, causing me to fall to the ground. Seeing me go down, Remallia quickly took cover and told me to remain still so Noska wouldn’t target me anymore. My body was barely able to keep together after having previously fought the dragon within the vault. I was beat and tired, wincing from the pain of my numerous injuries. While I was laying there with the bolt still stuck in my shoulder, Noska advanced and went around the rocks where I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t make out exactly what was said, but there was shouting from him as he approached what I assume was Kailani. Shortly after he yelled something at Kailani, there was a huge explosion from beside me, but fortunately the rocks shielded me from the blast. Later on, Kailani told me that Noska had pulled out some dynamite and blew himself up in an attempt to take her out. Fortunately, Kailani was part fire-genasi and wasn’t affected by the explosion as badly as she could’ve been.</p><p>After Noska had been dealt with, Kailani hurried over to me and slapped me across my face in haste, applying some healing in the process. The slap stung for a moment but then I began to feel slightly better as the pain from the bolt subsided. I pulled it out and got back on my feet, directing my attention to the remaining Bugbears in the cavern. The rest of us regrouped and managed to take out all six Bugbears without any more casualties.</p><p>By the end of the battle, I was completely done with it all. I didn’t want to fight anymore nor deal with any more unsavory individuals. We had neutralized Xanathar’s Guild for the most part and uncovered Lord Neverember’s secret gold stash. It was time to rest and finally be reunited with my love. We looked around the cavern and secured the area, not seeing any signs of Arthur or Jerky around. They were capable adults, so we continued up the ladder to the Pink Flumph without them. We had to notify the Open Lord as soon as possible so she could secure the gold stash and hopefully reward us.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. For the People</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Upon reaching the dressing room above, we found the two watchmen who were supposed to be on duty slain. We quickly moved into the room and kept alert for any other hostiles. None of the theater’s staff were around and seemed to have headed home for the day. Still not seeing Arthur or Jerky around, we just hoped they got out before Noska and his Bugbears arrived. Remallia then closed the hatch and relocked it using magic before mending the carpet over it. If they were still down there, they’d have to wait until we returned, which all being well, wouldn’t be too long.</p><p>Before we left the Pink Flumph, Remallia told us she was going to take her leave and take her share of the gold with her. She wanted to make sure Kailani and I wouldn’t rat her out before leaving and we assured her we wouldn’t. Jerky and Arthur, on the other hand, I couldn’t vouch for but as for Kailani and I, we would keep her portion of the gold a secret. It was the least we could do after all Remallia had done for us. After that, she left us, saying she was leaving the city to go take a trip somewhere. Meanwhile, Renaer said he wanted to head to the castle as soon as possible.</p><p>From the theater, Renaer, Kailani, and I took a carriage to the castle in the Castle Ward to meet with Lady Silverhand. When we got there, we were greeted by a small entourage of royal officials. There was an older halfling there accompanied by a few royal guards. We got out of the carriage with Renaer taking the lead to talk to the older halfling. After a bit of talking, Kailani and I followed Renaer as we were led into a guard barracks first for more questioning. Once we explained more about why we were there, we were finally brought to the main castle and into the throne room. The halfling official told us to wait while he went to notify Lady Silverhand of our arrival.</p><p>The three of us stood around while being watched by the guards present, waiting for the Open Lord to arrive. We looked around and saw that the throne room wasn’t as lavishly decorated as it once was. There were empty spaces on the walls where paintings and tapestries once hung proudly. The throne had spots where gemstones seemed to be missing. All around, the room was a lot more modest than it could have been, something that Lady Silverhand must’ve instituted after the previous Open Lord was relieved of duty. While he waited, Renaer took a seat on the steps leading up to the throne, the golden staff from the vault still in his hands. Seeing as how we were both beat and tired, Kailani and I sat down as well to rest our feet after Renaer had done so.</p><p>After a while, the main doors to the throne room opened as several Gryphon Riders came marching in. They were the elite guards charged with protecting the Open Lord. Following the guards in was Lady Laeral Silverhand, the current Open Lord of Waterdeep. Kailani and I snapped to attention and gave a slight bow, respectfully greeting her as she approached us. Once she gave us a motion to stand at ease, she looked to Renaer and inquired about his presence there. Renaer then went on to tell her about how we opened the vault, slayed the dragon, and uncovered the secret treasure his father had hidden away. He also told her about the staff in his hands, which was actually a really powerful relic and important to the city’s safety. He handed it over to Lady Silverhand which she was very thankful for.</p><p>Once she was done talking with Renaer and getting a general overview of the situation, Lady Silverhand turned her attention towards Kailani and me. We introduced ourselves as detectives of the City Watch and told her everything she wanted to know. I told her about our recent endeavors, with killing Xanathar and neutralizing his lair, then finished by telling her about the vault.</p><p>Lady Silverhand said she was eager to see the vault and wanted to head out immediately. Kailani was exhausted and want to rest up a bit. Seeing as how our places of residence could have been compromised by Xanathar’s Guild and potentially unsafe, she asked Lady Silverhand if she had anywhere safe where she could rest. Lady Silverhand offered her a place at the castle to sleep in the meantime and had her assistant take care of her. While Kailani was being led away towards the guard barracks to get some rest, I waved goodbye to her then followed after Renaer as he followed Lady Silverhand and her entourage out of the castle.</p><p>We took the royal carriage out of the castle and headed to the Pink Flumph. Above us, there were several Gryphon Riders riding gryphons as they provided security from above. We quickly traversed the streets and arrived back at the theater. The royal guards quickly stormed inside and secured the area before Lady Silverhand went in. I followed her alongside Renaer and showed her to where the secret hatch was located that led further down into the vault. The royal guards had taken care of the dead watchmen and moved them out of the way. I made my way inside and cut the carpet up once more, revealing the locked trapdoor. Lady Silverhand easily undid Remallia’s magical lock and allowed her guards to head down first. I was half expecting to see Arthur and Jerky waiting for us when the hatch opened, but alas, they were not there.</p><p>After the area was clear, we all made our way down and I showed Lady Silverhand around, pointing out the dead Xanathar’s Guild remnants we had to neutralize on our way out. I showed her the fresco that had entranced Kailani, making sure to tell her not to get too close or else she’d be bewitched by it as well. I led her all the way to the treasure room where the dead dragon was still located and thankfully, the heaps of gold as well. Lady Silverhand was pleased to see the gold horde there and praised me and the others for not selfishly taking any of it. I kept up the charade and told her it was all part of my duty as a servant of the people, ignoring the fact that Remallia had taken a share as payment for her services.</p><p>Lady Silverhand had her guards secure the entire vault then decided she wanted to meet the rest of the group. I told her that we still had two members missing-in-action, Arthur Emrys and Jerky Spices. Renaer then mentioned they could be at Evergreen Tavern, which Arthur owned, so we headed back out to take the royal carriage there. The ride to the tavern was rather pleasant, though I was a bit concerned that we hadn’t seen Arthur or Jerky yet. I just hoped they were at the tavern, because other than that, I had no idea where they could be. Hopefully not in any danger or trouble.</p><p>When we arrived at the tavern, we disembarked from the carriage and went in to find Kailani sitting at the bar chatting with Cragnar. She had gotten a quick power nap in the guard barracks then headed on over to the tavern afterwards. We asked if she had seen either Arthur or Jerky but she said no. Suddenly, we heard the scraping of metal against cobblestone as the sound got closer and closer to the front door. As the noise momentarily stopped, Arthur came in through the front door dragging his shield and sword behind him. He totally ignored Lady Silverhand and went behind the counter, stopping in front of the kegs of ale. He then proceeded to pour himself a pint and take a drink. We all stood there flabbergasted as he blatantly showed the Open Lord of Waterdeep zero respect right in front of us. We could tell that he was rather dejected-looking, and when we asked him why, he said it was because Jerky had gone without saying goodbye.</p><p>After Arthur had a drink or two to calm his nerves, Lady Silverhand addressed him, me, and Kailani, thanking us once more for returning the contents of the hidden vault back to the people. She praised us for our heroic deeds then told us she’d be willing to grant each of us one request for our efforts, giving us a day to think it over. After talking a bit more, she left the tavern, returning to her carriage to head back to the castle.</p><p>As soon as Lady Silverhand left, Arthur left Kailani and me in the tavern to head up to his room. I turned to Kailani and asked if there was anything she wanted of the Open Lord. She knew what I wanted so I was curious as to what she as going to request. She said she didn’t have anything in mind and probably wouldn’t ask for anything. I then inquired about if her parents might want something. After mentioning her parents, Kailani abruptly left the tavern to go check on how they were doing after all that had happened. Since it was just me left in the tavern, I decided to head back to my apartment to get some well-deserved rest.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>Over the next few days, news spread around town about what I and the others had accomplished. Rumors spread about a mysterious vault being opened and a Beholder being slain. During the aftermath, the City Watch noticed a significant decrease in Xanathar’s Guild activity much to their delight. That was one less threat they had to deal with. There were still remnants around causing problems here and there, but nothing compared to when the organization was at full strength and its leaders still alive.</p><p>During my down time, I relaxed and tended to my wounds while taking a small break from detective work. I was granted a small period of leave in appreciation for my hard work over the past few weeks. While I was at home, I cleaned my blades and put all my adventuring gear away, like my armor and additional knick-knacks I had picked up during the case. I wasn’t going to need them when I returned back to my usual duties as a normal detective.</p><p>All the while, I couldn’t help but smile and be optimistic for the future. With the Open Lord offering me a single request for returning all the gold back to the citizens of Waterdeep, I just hoped that Lady Silverhand would have the power or know someone who could bring Kaz back from the dead. I tried not to get my hopes up, but the very thought of having my love back in my arms warmed me to the core.</p><p>On one of the days while I was at home enjoying my vacation, I heard a knock at my door. It was still early in the morning, so I wondered who it could possibly be. Maybe it was Kailani or Arthur. Or maybe it was even Jerky. I went over to the door and answered it, finding a man I was not familiar with. The man introduced himself as an advisor to Lady Silverhand, so I politely let him in so we could talk further.</p><p>The advisor was just there to ask if I had come to a conclusion about what I was going to ask of Lady Silverhand. Of course, I had my mind made up, so I told him right away that I’d like her to resurrect my friend, Kazuhara Kobayashi, who had died while part of Arthur’s original group. The advisor though it over, since it was such a grand thing to ask for, but then assured me he’d relay my request to her at once. He did mention that I should temper my expectations, in case she wouldn’t be able to, but did also say the Open Lord would do her best to accommodate my request. I thanked the advisor profusely then let him go about his business. After he had left, I couldn’t help but tear up slightly, wishing for the best possible outcome where Kaz would return to me in no time.</p><p>Once my vacation was up, I had to report back to duty and fill out all the paperwork Cromley let me put off until I was better. When I got back to the station, my desk was full of papers and things needing signatures and to be filled out. Kailani was back to work as well and was sitting at her desk next to mine.</p><p>During one of the first few days after I had returned to work, Kailani and I had an unexpected visitor come visit us at the station. While we were both working at our desks, we heard a familiar voice call out to us. We looked up to see Arthur approaching us, carrying a couple bags. He looked like he was in a rough condition, still having visible injuries on his face and an appearance of not having washed in several days. To put it nicely, he looked like a mess. I wondered what was up and if he needed our help.</p><p>Arthur placed the bags on our desks and greeted us. We greeted him back and asked why he was there visiting us at work. Did he have something to report, we wondered. He said it wasn’t an emergency and didn’t exactly need our help. He just wanted to give us a few things he no longer needed before he left on his trip. When we asked where he was going, he just said he was going to take a trip on a ship to nowhere in particular. He said that he left a portion of the tavern’s ownership to someone so that it would continue to operate in his absence. We wished him a safe journey then he left the station. That was the last time I last saw him.</p><p>After he had left, Kailani and I decided to see what Arthur had left for us. We poured out the contents of the bag onto my desk and saw a wide assortment of things. We saw his Belt of Dwarven Kind -which he got from Jerky after a trade-, some gemstones, a lump of coal, some red mini-dragon scales, and a few other items. As I was pouring over the items, I happened to see a familiar item which made me shudder slightly. Among the things he had left for us was the Stone of Golorr. I carefully retrieved a piece of cloth and picked up the stone, wrapping it up in the cloth before placing it back down on my desk. I asked Kailani what I should do with it and she mentioned just giving it to Cromley to handle. I wanted to just give it to Lady Silverhand herself, but I guessed giving it to Cromley would have to do. I just hoped he had the good sense not to mess with it and pass it on up his chain of command. I just set aside everything for now and decided I’d figure out what to do with it all later.</p><p>Shortly after Arthur had left, the advisor to the Open Lord approached Kailani and me. It was the same person who came by my apartment earlier in the week. We greeted the man and he said he was there to pass on an invitation on behalf of Lady Silverhand. Kailani and I, as well as Arthur and Jerky, were invited to a ceremony occurring in three days to honor our heroism and deeds in service to the city. I graciously accepted the invitation, as did Kailani, and asked the advisor if he caught Arthur on his way out of the station. He said he had not then promptly left to try and catch up with Arthur if he could.</p><p> </p><p>#</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Three days later…</em>
</p><p>            It was the day of the ceremony and I was sitting with Kailani on a stage in front of the castle. In front of us, there was a crowd of special guests in attendance to include both Kailani’s parents and my parents. The city’s elite and nobles were present, wanting to witness the ceremony and congratulate the saviors of Waterdeep. Kailani and I were dressed in our formal uniforms, something I hadn’t worn in a long time. Beside us on stage were two empty chairs meant for Arthur and Jerky, though, they were not present by the start of the ceremony. I was somewhat disheartened to see them not there, but wherever they were, I just hoped they were doing fine.</p><p>            At first, Lady Silverhand’s advisor took to the podium to introduce us, explaining to the crowd who we were and why we were being honored. He then went on to briefly mention our involvement in the events that had recently took place and how much of a better place the city was because of them. After that, Lady Silverhand took to the podium to continue where he had left off.</p><p>Lady Silverhand went on to congratulate us on a job well done, saying that we had performed a great service to the denizens of Waterdeep. She thanked each of us individually, complimenting us on our strengths and individual prowess. She started with Kailani and I then went on to talk about Arthur and Jerky even though they weren’t there. That was really nice of her, giving them the same amount of recognition despite their absence from the ceremony.</p><p>Once Lady Silverhand was done talking about our achievements, she then presented us with a physical token of appreciation. Kailani and I each received a Distinguished Service Medal the highest honor a servant of the city could achieve. She also had two Waterdavian Achievement Medals for Arthur and Jerky, the highest honor a private citizen could receive on behalf of the city. Since they were not there, Lady Silverhand just placed them on the empty chairs as a sign of respect.</p><p>After we had received our honors, Lady Silverhand then went on to honor those who had died during the Gralhund Villa massacre. Without them, the series of events that transpired would have never taken place, leaving Xanathar and his guild unchecked and the vault contents still lost to time. There was going to be a monument erected in their honor. She named off everyone from Arthur’s original group by name, pausing to give each of them a moment of silence. When she got to Kaz, I bowed my head and tried to picture her in my mind. Earlier in the week, the City Watch passed a verdict on the Gralhunds and their affiliates. Lord and Lady Gralhund wouldn’t be getting the death penalty and instead faced other harsh punishments. The two regular guards were banished from the city but allowed to keep their lives. Hrabbaz, on the other hand, was sentenced to death for the killing of Gix, M’naggo, and Kaz.</p><p>Even though I was given the opportunity to carry out the execution myself, I declined. I decided to follow Cromley’s advice and rather stood by as a witness. The case had been solved and Kaz had been avenged, so there was no need to taint my soul by playing the role of executioner. I watched happily, though, as he breathed his final breath after the axe came down on his neck. A bit took quick in my opinion especially when compared to what he did to my love, but justice had been served. Soon enough, I was going to be reunited my love and everything was going to be all right.</p><p>After saying a few more words, Lady Silverhand concluded the ceremony and allowed everyone to stay and socialize with Kailani and me. I got off the stage with Kailani and went over to my parents first while she went to her own. My mother and father said they were proud of me and you know, said the usual parent stuff despite me being twenty-eight already. After Kailani and I had talked with our parents and shook hands with several of the esteemed guests there, Lady Silverhand pulled us off to the side to talk about the favors she offered us.</p><p>Lady Silverhand started with Kailani first, telling her she should be able to fulfill her request. Kailani wanted to go sailing and requested a modest sailboat as her reward. The catch was that she wanted it to be entirely fireproof, which the Open Lord was a bit hesitant of but then reassured her it was well within her power to do. It was just going to take some time.</p><p>After talking with her, Lady Silverhand directed her attention towards me. She had received my request via her advisor and was a bit more apprehensive as she talked to me. She told me that resurrecting my beloved Kaz was within the realm of being possible, but it was going to be very difficult. She herself did not possess the power to perform such a spell that would bring Kaz back from the dead, nor did she immediately know anyone that could do it as well. It was a very powerful spell that required a very experienced and knowledgeable caster, possibly even a necromancer. The spell also required a substantial amount of resources, namely a lot of diamonds- 25,000 gold dragon’s worth to be exact. As she talked, I began to become more anxious and depressed as the prospect of being finally reunited with Kaz got further and further away from me.</p><p>Towards the end of our conversation, Lady Silverhand smiled and reassured me she’d do her best to make my wish a reality. She was going to put out a call to any powerful spellcaster in the area that could possibly perform the ritual, summoning them to her at once. If anyone came by, she’d notify me immediately. I was completely thankful for her and offered anything I could do to help expedite the process, whether it was by giving her all my gold or following any leads for her. She told me to rest easy and that she’d take care of everything. I thanked her once more and could hardly contain my excitement and eagerness to see my love once more. After she was done talking with us, she left and let us enjoy the rest of the post-ceremony festivities. Kailani and I exchanged content looks before going our separate ways, successfully having gotten through it all together just like old times.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the time after being honored for his distinguished service to the city of Waterdeep, Reese continued as a detective for the City Watch as if nothing had changed. He continued to take on jobs like normal and didn’t want to be treated any differently because of his newfound fame. He had a renewed sense of motivation and had a clear goal in mind: to bring back Kaz from the dead.</p>
<p>Reese consolidated all his wealth and pay from the City Watch into a back-up fund, just in case Lady Silverhand fell through and he had to fund Kaz’ resurrection on his own. He did everything he could to help Lady Silverhand in her efforts, remaining on the lookout for a powerful enough spellcaster to perform the resurrection spell. She gave him periodic reports and continued to tell him not to worry and that she’d handle it. Reese did his best not to worry, but planned for the worst case scenario anyway.</p>
<p>As time dragged on, and after doing several tasks for the Open Lord with no progress being made towards his goal, Reese’s resolve began to waiver. The days turned to weeks then into months as he heard no definitive news about Kaz’s resurrection. Because of this, his depression continued to sink in and take hold, crippling his energy levels and sociability. He became cold to his peers and unsympathetic to the world around him. He began to get more numb towards his emotions, eventually becoming a mere husk of his former self. The proverbial carrot was continually dangled in front of him with no clear end in sight. He did his best to keep Kaz in his thoughts, but it only made him feel worse as he continued to trudge on.</p>
<p>Eventually, Reese finally caught a break one day as the Open Lord’s advisor paid him a visit at the station. It was midday and he was at his desk when the advisor came by to tell him the good news. He told him that Lady Silverhand had received word from an acquaintance of hers from a distant land, a very powerful and capable cleric who was capable of performing the resurrection spell. The cleric told her he’d be delighted to provide assistance and would be in Waterdeep within a month or so. In the meantime, Lady Silverhand had already begun making preparations for his arrival and had taken care of the cost for the ritual.</p>
<p>Upon hearing the news, Reese was overjoyed and questioned the advisor for more information. He asked if there was anything he needed to do, but the advisor said everything was taken care of. All Reese had to do was wait until the advisor came for him when it was time. Once he heard everything, Reese couldn’t concentrate on his work and just kept thinking about Kaz and their reunion. After the advisor had told him all he knew, he headed back to the castle to attend to his other duties.</p>
<p>For the rest of the day, Reese spent his time daydreaming about Kaz and wondering how the ritual was going to go. Finally, after so many months of nothing, he had something to look forward to. It was something concrete and tangible and he just hoped the cleric could deliver on his word. Seeing as he was getting next to no work done, he decided to call it a day and head on home.</p>
<p>After about a month of waiting, Lady Silverhand’s advisor finally came by to summon Reese and tell him that the cleric had arrived in Waterdeep. Reese was working at the station when he got the news and he was overly ecstatic to hear it. The advisor told him that the cleric had already met with Lady Silverhand and was coordinating with a local healing church. He said that Lady Silverhand was assisting with the preparations, so it wasn’t going to be long until the cleric was ready to perform the ritual. Before the advisor left, he told Reese to head to the House of St. Laupsenn in a couple of hours, saying that everything should be ready by then. Reese thanked the advisor, and after the advisor left, he got up and quickly went back home to get ready.</p>
<p>Reese could hardly control his exhilaration as he reached his apartment, quickly freshening up and changing out of his usual work outfit. He decided to wear something casual and freshly cleaned, an outfit that Kaz would recognize. After he was done getting dressed, he packed some things for Kaz just in case. He retrieved her empty backpack from his closet and shook it off, causing some leftover debris to fall off of it. He was surprised that it was still in one piece despite going through the ordeal with the dragon in the vault. Perhaps he’d buy her a new one later. Going through her box of belongings, he assembled a set of clothes for her to wear. He was pretty sure coming back from the dead didn’t include a set of clothes, so he brought some for her. Once he was done packing, he slung the bag over his back and left his apartment.</p>
<p>Reese hurried through the city and made his way over to the House of St. Laupsenn, an establishment belonging to the Church of Ilmater. As he got closer, he noticed the royal carriage parked out front of the building along with several Gryphon Riders patrolling the area. He figured the Open Lord had arrived and was already inside preparing for the ritual. He continued onward and approached the building before the guards stopped him. After explaining who he was and getting checked, he was allowed passed security to proceed inside. The advisor was waiting for Reese at the entrance and greeted him before ushering him to where the ritual was taking place.</p>
<p>The building’s interior was quiet and empty, having been cleared by the guards of all civilians except for a few assistants who were going to be aiding the cleric. Reese and the advisor continued through until they arrived at a small chapel towards the back of the building. It was an open area with a large, stone slab in the middle of it. To the side flanked by two Gryphon Riders was a table with a large bag on it and a bowl of holy water. The Gryphon Riders were guarding the large amount of diamonds needed for the ritual. Elsewhere in the chamber, Reese saw several Ilmatran clergy members clothed in their religious robes and garments. Among them was the cleric from out of town who was wearing attire different from theirs. As Reese and the advisor drew near, they saw Lady Silverhand within the chapel watching the others prepare the ritual. She noticed them coming and went over to greet them.</p>
<p>Seeing the Open Lord approaching him, Reese gave her a slight bow as usual. “Your Grace,” he said before standing back up straight.</p>
<p>“Detective Barkhorn,” said Lady Silverhand with a smile before stopping in front of them. “You’re looking rather spritely, at least much more than in recent months.”</p>
<p>“I am, thanks to your well-received generosity in the matter. If all goes accordingly well, I’ll finally be reunited with my love, so pardon me if I do seem a bit- spritely,” said Reese.</p>
<p>“No need to worry, Detective. I’m sure my friend will be more than capable of performing the spell without a hitch. Speaking of which,” said Lady Silverhand before looking to the cleric. She beckoned him over momentarily to introduce him to Reese before the start of the ritual. “This is an old associate of mine, Jean Baptiste,” she said, gesturing to the cleric.</p>
<p>“Pleasure to meet you,” said Reese as he shook the cleric’s hand.</p>
<p>“Jean, this is the young detective I’ve told you about. He’s the significant other of the young woman you’re about to resurrect,” said Lady Silverhand.</p>
<p>“Oh, so you’re the one she mentioned,” said Jean after withdrawing his hand from the handshake. “This girl of yours must be pretty important to you if you were willing to go through all that just for her. And you’re pretty lucky to have gotten in the good graces with Laeral here. There aren’t many people I know that could perform this high-level of a resurrection spell, not to toot my own horn or anything.”</p>
<p>Reese just smiled then responded. “She is very important to me. If it weren’t for her, I most likely wouldn’t have gotten involved with the case involving the Gralhunds. Then who knows what would’ve become of Xanathar or the Vault, not that I was such a pivotal member or anything to begin with,” he said.</p>
<p>“Well then, can’t wait to meet her,” said Jean before looking to Lady Silverhand. “The preparations are almost complete and we can soon begin. The two guards you have over there are kinda making me nervous, so if you’d be so kind, could you please have them wait outside. You and the detective may stay and watch so long as you’re quiet and don’t distract us.”</p>
<p>“I’m not used to taking orders so willingly like this, so don’t get used to it,” said Lady Silverhand as she motioned for the guards to wait outside.</p>
<p>“Hey, you may be the Open Lord of Waterdeep now, but to me, you’ll always be the same-old Laeral I knew from back then,” said Jean before moving back into the chapel.</p>
<p>While Jean was directing the Ilmatran brothers and sisters around the slab, Reese and Lady Silverhand moved off to the side and took a seat in chairs placed out for them. They could clearly see the stone altar, table of diamonds, and everyone involved in the ritual from where they were sitting. Reese took off Kaz’s backpack and set it down beside his chair before sitting down.</p>
<p>“Your Grace, the diamonds over there. Those are all yours?” asked Reese as he sat next to her while waiting for the ritual to commence.</p>
<p>“They are. It took a while to obtain them all, but I managed. It was quite difficult… not to mention expensive,” said Lady Silverhand as she turned her head to Reese.</p>
<p>Reese swallowed nervously, avoiding her gaze for the meantime. “I- I have some gold saved up. If you’d like, I can-,” he said before being cut off.</p>
<p>“There’s no need. You’ve earned this, so there’s no need to pay me back,” said Lady Silverhand as she placed a hand on Reese’s shoulder. “How about this? You take that gold and spend it on your dear friend here once she’s brought back. I’m sure you’ll need it all to get her situated back into the world of the living.”</p>
<p>Hearing Lady Silverhand’s kind words, Reese gave her a smile and nodded, focusing his attention back to Jean and the others around the altar. When everything was prepared, Jean notified him and Lady Silverhand that he was about to begin. He sat in racked anticipation as he did his best to remain calm and composed. Lady Silverhand watched eagerly as well, curious to know how a resurrection spell of that magnitude was performed while taking mental notes.</p>
<p>Jean started off by standing behind a podium in front of the altar and table with the diamonds. On the podium was a very old tome with runes and markings Reese couldn’t discern. Jean said a few words in a language he didn’t understand which were repeated by his four assistants. He then went over to the table and opened the bag of diamonds, revealing the large pile within. Next to it, he took the bowl of holy water and poured it all over the diamonds, coating it all in the blessed liquid while he said a few words. He placed the bowl back on the table before returning behind the podium, turning the page on his book to continue with the ritual. He continued to chant in a foreign language along with his assistants, focusing their energy on the stone altar in the center of them.</p>
<p>Reese continued to watch anxiously as nothing seemingly happened during the first few moments of the ritual. He and Lady Silverhand sat patiently as the minutes passed but then they began to see noticeable progress. Suddenly, Reese was on the edge of his seat as he noticed the diamonds on top of the pile begin to disintegrate. The particles from the diamonds formed a stream of dust that glided slowly through the air over to the stone alter. There, the dust began to form the foundation of Kaz’s new body as it began to take shape. Over time, the diamonds continued to disappear as Kaz’s body became more defined on the altar. Reese noticed that Kaz was being resurrected in her true self, meaning her kitsune form, which he didn’t mind in the slightest. The process took roughly an hour as the diamonds had fully dissolved and formed Kaz’s body.</p>
<p>Seeing that Kaz’s body was completely restored, Reese almost got out of his seat to make his way over to her, but Lady Silverhand stopped him. “Just wait,” she said in a whisper as she held on to his coat.</p>
<p>Reese looked back to Lady Silverhand then sat back down in his seat, heeding her words despite his eagerness to reunite with Kaz. He looked back to Jean who was still chanting behind the podium. It seemed like the ritual hadn’t concluded yet so he sat patiently until Jean was completely finished. Jean raised his hands into the air and said something out loud, seemingly waiting for something to happen. The anticipation was almost too much for Reese to bear as he waited with bated breath. Suddenly, he was awestruck as Kaz breathed in a deep breath. He was about to get up again but Lady Silverhand pulled him back down into his seat, telling him to wait once more.</p>
<p>On the stone alter, Kaz reawakened as her soul had finally taken root in her new body. Her eyes opened wide as her lungs drew in a deep breath of fresh air, filling it to capacity with oxygen. After taking in a few deep breaths, she sat up and looked around frantically, remembering the last thing that happened before she died. She gripped her neck as she began coughing, the feeling and memory of having her throat sliced open fresh in her mind. Jean then cast a spell to calm her down as Kaz became more subdued and tranquil. Feeling herself become suddenly more composed, Kaz continued to glance around at the Ilmatran clergy and Jean.</p>
<p>“Who are you!? What’s going on!?” asked Kaz as she sat on the cold, stone altar. She then noticed that she was naked and covered herself up using her arms and hands.</p>
<p>Jean went around the podium and approached Kaz, keeping a certain calmness and openness about him. “There’s no need to be afraid, my dear. You’re safe,” he said as he motioned to one of his assistants behind Kaz. They then came over to her and draped a clean, white sheet of cloth around her body to cover her.</p>
<p>Kaz flinched at the person approaching behind her then relaxed as she felt the soft sheet around her shoulders. She took hold of it and better covered her exposed body before looking back to Jean. “Where am I?” she asked.</p>
<p>“You’re in the House of St. Laupsenn in Waterdeep. I am Jean Baptiste, a friend of the Open Lord. She tasked me with bringing you back from the dead,” said Jean.</p>
<p>Kaz just looked at him, completely confused as to what was going on. “The Open Lord asked you to bring me back? But why?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Well, she was only acting on someone else’s behalf, someone that you know very well, actually,” said Jean before motioning the assistants to leave them. The assistants acknowledged then left the chapel area, heading elsewhere into the building. “I’ll leave you two to catch up,” he said before motioning over to Reese to come over. As Reese promptly got up from his set, Jean walked over to him and sat down beside Lady Silverhand while Reese made his way over to Kaz.</p>
<p>Reese was nearly in tears as he saw Kaz right there before him, fully alive and back to her old self. As he came out of the shadows, Kaz caught full sight of him and was equally overcome with joy, nearly in tears as well. Reese finally let go of his restraint and rushed over to Kaz, embracing her in a tight hug as he finally let his emotions run freely.</p>
<p>At first, Reese didn’t notice as he wrapped his arms around Kaz, but then he realized it. As his hands felt her bare body, he began to comprehend that it was the first time he had felt Kaz’s fur. The unexpected feeling in his hands was a bit jarring at first, but then it became a pleasant one as he caressed her soft body.</p>
<p>Kaz hugged him back, holding him close in her arms as she cried as well. She had almost forgotten she was bare bodied as she pressed her chest against his. The two remained embraced in their hug for a good minute or so until they withdrew, looking into each other’s eyes.</p>
<p>They were about to kiss until Kaz realized she was in her fox form while in Reese’s presence. She began to panic until Reese caught on to her predicament and tried to calm her down. He placed a hand to her cheek and gave her a reassuring smile.</p>
<p>“It’s okay, my darling. It’s okay. There’s no need to be afraid anymore,” said Reese as he caressed her cheek.</p>
<p>Kaz continued to divert her gaze from Reese as she tried to muster up the courage to finally tell him her secret, something she regretted not doing before she died. “You- You don’t understand. There’s- something I need to tell you…,” she said, placing her hand on the one Reese was using to caress her face.</p>
<p>Reese sighed and brought Kaz in for a hug again, holding her close. “I know. It’s okay. There’s no need to worry,” he said softly into her hear.</p>
<p>Kaz thought that Reese didn’t really know what she was talking about, but after seeing at how calm he was being, she wasn’t so sure. “You know… what? How do you know what I’m going to say?” she asked.</p>
<p>“I- well, I‘ve known that you used to lead a double life; I found out about a month or so after we met. I happened to catch you changing from your human form into your fox form one day. I was suspicious and had followed you back home after meeting at the club. I climbed the tree next to your window and saw it happen in your room above the Artistic Armory,” said Reese.</p>
<p>Upon hearing that, Kaz scowled and slapped Reese across the face. “You knew that all this time and didn’t tell me!?” she said before huffing in frustration. “Do you know how stressed out I’ve been because of that!?”</p>
<p>Reese rubbed his cheek where she had smacked him and looked to her with a smile. “I wanted to let you tell me for yourself when you felt ready,” he said.</p>
<p>Kaz growled with disappointment then noticed something at Reese’s side. “Is that- my sword? What are you doing with my sword?” she asked.</p>
<p>Reese glanced to his right side and remembered that he was still had Kaz’s sword sheathed on his hip. “Oh this? I’ve kinda… been using it. Yeah,” he said.</p>
<p>Kaz gave him an annoyed look and gestured to him to let her see it. “Using it!? For what!? I can already tell from here that it’s been mistreated,” she said.</p>
<p>“Hey, it was one of the only things I had left of you, so I took it to remember you by. I’ve been taking good care of it, I promise,” said Reese as he unsheathed the sword and kindly handed it to her.</p>
<p>Kaz took the sword by the hilt and gave it a close inspection, going over the entire length of the rapier. “Took good care of it my arse. It’s chipped and banged up to hell! And what’s this!? Burn marks!? Have you been using my sword as a skewer in a bonfire or something?” she asked.</p>
<p>Reese just gave her a nervous smile then looked away, noticing Lady Silverhand and Jean still sitting in the shadows off to the side. He then looked back to Kaz and cleared his throat. “Can we finish this conversation elsewhere? There is someone that you should meet first,” he said, motioning over to where Lady Silverhand was sitting.</p>
<p>Kaz looked over his shoulder and noticed a couple of individuals sitting off to the side and looking right at them. She let out a surprised yelp before handing back the sword to Reese and covering herself up more with the cloth sheet. “Who? I’m not exactly in an appropriate state to be meeting strangers,” she said as she looked back to Reese.</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about that. I brought some of your clothes with me,” said Reese as he sheathed her sword before going over to where he was sitting before. He retrieved Kaz’s backpack from beside his seat and told Lady Silverhand that after Kaz was done getting dressed, he’d introduce her to her. When he got back over to Kaz, he handed her the backpack. “I hope I didn’t forget anything,” he said, handing her the bag.</p>
<p>“Where did you get all this from?” asked Kaz as she took the bag and opened it up.</p>
<p>“I transferred all your belongings from the tavern to my apartment,” said Reese.</p>
<p>Kaz gave him an odd look. “You know about the tavern?” she asked as she stopped what she was doing to look at Reese.</p>
<p>“I’ll tell you all about it once we’re out of here but first, get dressed so I can introduce you to the Open Lord,” said Reese.</p>
<p>“The- The Open Lord is here!?” asked Kaz as she tried to hide behind Reese, glancing around him to where Lady Silverhand was.</p>
<p>“Yes. She was the person who made all this possible. It’d be rude not to thank her before we left,” said Reese.</p>
<p>Kaz was visibly flustered as she began to slide herself off the table, getting down from it and hiding behind the side furthest from where Lady Silverhand was sitting. She then began to take out the clothes from her bag and get dressed. As she was doing that, Reese stood by with his back turned to her so she had some privacy. After a few brief moments, Kaz was fully dressed and presentable. She stood up and slung the empty backpack around her shoulders, standing beside Reese as she looked towards Lady Silverhand.</p>
<p>Seeing that Kaz and Reese were ready to go, Lady Silverhand and Jean both got up and went over to them. To calm Kaz’s nerves, Reese moved closer to her and grasped her hand gently in his as he gave her a sideways smile. Kaz immediately calmed down and returned his smile with one of her own, holding on to his hand.</p>
<p>As Lady Silverhand finally stood before them, Reese and Kaz both gave a respectful bow. “Your Grace,” they said together in unison.</p>
<p>“So, you’re the one that this young detective has been so anxious to reunite with. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Lady Silverhand as she looked to Kaz.</p>
<p>Kaz smiled apprehensively as she momentarily made eye contact with Lady Silverhand before looking away. She then swallowed nervously and met her gaze. “I’m Kazuhara Kobayashi, but you can me Kaz… if you’d like, Your Grace,” she said before shuffling around anxiously. “Uh, thank you so very much for all you’ve done to bring me back. I’m eternally grateful.”</p>
<p>Lady Silverhand smiled before chuckling slightly. “It’s not me you should thank. Your friend here is the one whom you should really be grateful to. He went through so much just to have you back in his arms again. Jean and I were just a means to an end. Without Reese, none of this would have happened,” she said.</p>
<p>Kaz’s cheeks reddened as she lovingly tightened her grip on Reese’s hand. “Oh, is that so,” she said. “Well, thank you anyway, Your Grace. I know how busy you are with the city’s affairs, so it means a lot to me that you took the time out of your schedule to do all this. And to you too, Jean.”</p>
<p>“It’s no problem at all. I owed Reese a debt and intended on fulfilling it. I was also curious to see how the resurrection was going to be carried out, so I stuck around to witness it,” said Lady Silverhand. Not wanting to keep the newly reunited couple waiting any longer, she welcomed Kaz back once more then turned to Reese. “What will you do now? Do you plan on remaining here in Waterdeep and continue with the City Watch?”</p>
<p>Reese took a moment to think, not having planned anything after he was reunited with Kaz. “I’m not sure. Most likely I’ll continue living here for the time being and keep up the City Watch work, at least, until Kaz and I plan our future together,” he said.</p>
<p>“I see. Well, now that our business has been concluded, I’ll be heading back to the castle,” said Lady Silverhand. “And remember. The city will forever be in your debt.” She then gave Jean a nod before making her way back outside to her carriage.</p>
<p>After giving Lady Silverhand a nod back and watching her leave, Jean turned to Reese and Kaz. “Before you go, allow me to clarify a few things regarding your recent resurrection. Your new body is just like your old one and has nothing different about it. You’re pure flesh and blood and you shouldn’t feel any side-effects from returning from the dead… well, besides being extraordinarily hungry. Be sure to eat and drink something following your departure. Your stomach is completely empty and your body needs the sustenance,” he said.</p>
<p>Just as he said that, Kaz’s stomach rumbled as she suddenly felt her hunger growing. “Ah, well that’s good to hear at least,” she said.</p>
<p>“Do you have any questions before you leave?” asked Jean.</p>
<p>Kaz had plenty of questions and things she wanted to know, but nothing for Jean at the moment. She shook her head and politely said no. Seeing that he had done everything that was required of him, Jean congratulated the couple on their reunion before they left the premises. As Reese and Kaz made their way outside, the royal carriage was gone along with the small detachment of Gryphon Riders that were patrolling the area.</p>
<p>Wanting something to eat, Kaz and Reese left to find a place to have dinner before returning to his apartment. They found a restaurant nearby and went in for a bite to eat. After finding a table and ordering their meals, the two resumed their conversation from earlier. They were sitting across from one another at a small table. There was a lot Kaz wanted to hear from Reese, but she decided to start off with what they were last talking about.</p>
<p>“So, about earlier…,” said Kaz as she timidly started up the conversation.</p>
<p>“Hmm?” asked Reese as he looked to Kaz from across the table.</p>
<p>“How much do you really know about me?” asked Kaz.</p>
<p>Reese took a moment to collect his thoughts then replied. “Just what I’ve seen and read from the City Watch reports. I know that the lovely human girl named Castel ‘Caz’ Cupidski, whom I befriended in the Formal Fighters Club, is the same person as the lovely kitsune girl named Kazuhara ‘Kaz’ Kobayashi, whom I had met while she was working as an employee of the former weapons shop, the Artistic Armory,” he said, giving her a smile. “After I had discovered that fact, I conducted further research at the station and discovered who you really were, a member of the illustrious assassination organization simply known as the Guild.”</p>
<p>Hearing that, Kaz began to feel uncomfortable as her secret was out in the open. “It wasn’t like <em>I</em> was an assassin or anything…,” she said under her breath before returning to her normal volume. “Yet after knowing all that, you still remained friends with me despite your affiliation with the law.”</p>
<p>“Of course I did. You haven’t done anything wrong, and despite our employers being on opposite sides of a coin, they don’t make up who we are. You’re my friend, Kaz, and when we started dating, you became much more than that. I love you, so it doesn’t matter who you work for or who I work for. All that matters is that we have each other,” said Reese.</p>
<p>Kaz smiled at that, reaching across the table to touch Reese’s hand. “I love you too,” she said as she began to tear up before suddenly growing still and somber. “During my last moments… at Gralhund Villa, I thought of you and how I wouldn’t be able to tell you everything. I regretted not acting sooner and because of that, I ended up where I was. I just never would’ve thought it would turn out like this…”</p>
<p>Reese took Kaz’s hand in his and caressed it gently, trying to console her. “But it’s not all bad though. I mean, you’re back. We’re together. It’s almost as if nothing had happened,” he said.</p>
<p>Kaz nodded her head and smiled again. “I guess. Despite everything that has happened, I’d say this is pretty much the best possible outcome. I finally got to tell you my secret, even though I didn’t have to say anything, and you’re fine with it all… right?” she asked. “But- I guess it doesn’t even matter anymore since I’m no longer associated with the Guild after they fired me. I was going to tell you everything shortly after I had left their employment, but then I got caught up in some business involving the new owners of Trollskull Manor. Where are they anyway? Did Arthur manage to get Magdove the help she needed?”</p>
<p>Remembering that Kaz was unaware of the events that transpired after her death, Reese was about to fill her in on what happened but was stalled by their food arriving. He told Kaz he’d tell her what happened after they had a bite to eat from their meals first. Kaz was a bit nervous as she slowly began to eat her dinner. After a few brief tense moments, Reese picked up from where they had left off.</p>
<p>“So, not to alarm you or anything, but it’s been more than a year since you had died,” said Reese as he tried to sound as calm as he could. “As you can imagine, a lot has happened since then.”</p>
<p>Kaz just looked at him, giving him her undivided attention as she prepared herself for the news. Judging from his tone and expression, she figured he had some less than good news to share with her. Remembering the situation she was last left in, she assumed the worst.</p>
<p>Reese began by telling her the events that happened immediately after she had died. He told her that along with herself, her companions (M’naggo and Gix) had also died at the villa. He also mentioned that Magdove didn’t make it, having perished even before Arthur had left the villa to seek aid for her. He then went on to talk about how there was a funeral pyre for her and her compatriots after everything had settled. To lift her spirits, he lastly talked about how the Gralhunds were apprehended and punished for their crimes, finishing up by telling her that he witnessed her killer’s (Hrabbaz) execution.</p>
<p>After Reese was done talking, Kaz was at first saddened to hear about the deaths of her companions but then relieved upon hearing that justice had been served. By then, she had finished her meal as her stomach was completely empty before eating and she was starving. She downed her drink then let out a content sigh.</p>
<p>“Whatever happened to Arthur? He’s the only survivor, is he not?” asked Kaz.</p>
<p>“Well, that’s a long story that I’ll tell you later. Maybe at my apartment? The situation is kind of different at your old place of residence, so I wouldn’t recommend heading back there just yet,” said Reese.</p>
<p>Kaz thought it over for a moment and decided to take his word for it. She didn’t know the whole story yet, so she decided to stay with Reese for the night to give her mind some time to digest everything. Besides, she missed him dearly and didn’t want to leave his side even for just one night. After finishing up at the restaurant, they both got up and left, heading back to Reese’s apartment together. During the walk back, Kaz decided to chat a bit more with Reese.</p>
<p>“Hey, I know you’ve known about my true appearance for some time now, but- I have to ask, how come you’re so readily accepting of it? It must be awkward knowing that my real appearance is so drastic from my human one,” said Kaz. “But, if it’ll make you feel more comfortable, I can always go back to being human for you.”</p>
<p>Reese was caught off guard by the sudden question and looked to Kaz. “There’s no need for that, darling. I like your normal self,” he said before thinking about the rest she said. “As for why it doesn’t bother me, it’s because I’m in love with who you are on the inside. It doesn’t really matter what you look like because it’ll still be you.”</p>
<p>Kaz blushed at that, holding Reese’s hand as she brushed up against him. “Really? So if I were say- an elf or a tabaxi, you wouldn’t mind?” she asked.</p>
<p>“No I don’t think so. They’re humanoid and similar to your human form, so I probably wouldn’t mind,” said Reese.</p>
<p>“Oh? So what if I were like, a dwarf… or a gnome? Would you still stay with me then?” asked Kaz with a slight chuckle.</p>
<p>Reese was a bit more hesitant with his answer but decided to answer truthfully. “Uh, well… I don’t know. There’s quite a height difference there so maybe I’d prefer you in your human form at that point,” he said without trying to sound too mean.</p>
<p>Kaz chuckled again as she held Reese close while they walked. “So appearances <em>are</em> important to you,” she said.</p>
<p>“Okay, I won’t lie and say they aren’t completely unimportant. I just don’t think it should be what completely defines a person. But fortunately, I fancy your fox form,” said Reese as he scratched the tip of his nose. “Actually… just maybe. I might even find it- um, more appealing than your human one…”</p>
<p>“Oh? Is that so?” asked Kaz. “What about it makes it more… appealing?” She smiled as she looked over to meet Reese’s gaze.</p>
<p>Reese was beginning to get visibly flustered as he tried to formulate his reply in his head. He glanced away from Kaz as she continued to smile at him. “Well, I don’t know how to explain it. I guess I just have a think for foxes and kitsunes,” he said as he looked back to Kaz. “My family crest is the wolf, so I guess I’m just used to seeing that form. Foxes are very similar to wolves, are they not?”</p>
<p>“In appearances, I suppose, but they do have their differences,” said Kaz, mildly offended that he was comparing foxes to wolves so casually.</p>
<p>“I know. I’m just saying they look rather similar,” said Reese as they finally arrived at his apartment building.</p>
<p>Reese led Kaz inside and proceeded on up to his apartment together. Kaz was a bit excited, never having actually been to Reese’s place of residence before. They were in the Castle Ward, so the area around them was relatively nice. The apartment building was clean and well maintained despite many people living there. Reese opened up the door leading into his apartment and motioned Kaz to head on in. She stepped into his abode and took a quick look around, noticing the minimalistic decor. She then took off her backpack and set it down off to the side. Reese closed the door behind him then took off his belt along with the swords, hanging it on a hook by the door. He then took off his coat and hung it beside his belt and swords on another hook. After they were both inside, they took a seat at the dining table to continue their conversation, sitting across from one another along the sides.</p>
<p>“Do you want to continue talking? I know you’ve had a long day, so I won’t keep you up if you want to get some sleep,” said Reese.</p>
<p>“I’m fine. I’ve been sleeping for more than a year already, so I want to get completely caught up on everything that has happened,” said Kaz as she leaned forward in her seat.</p>
<p>“If you insist,” said Reese as he got more comfortable in his seat as well.</p>
<p>Reese continued again by starting off with when he first met Arthur and Jerky at Evergreen Tavern. He then regaled Kaz with the tales of him, Kailani, Arthur, and Jerky during their adventures around Waterdeep. He told her almost everything, highlighting their romp through Xanathar’s lair before ending with the finale inside the vault. The one thing he did not mention was his past relationship with Kailani and the tender moments the two shared, like when he invited her over and ended up sleeping in the same bed with her. Even though nothing happened, he didn’t want to overload Kaz with things like that. At a later point, he’d fill her in if the right moment ever came up.</p>
<p>All the while, Kaz listened intently and was surprised at what he had to go through. Then she suddenly became daunted after coming to a realization. If she had lived through the Gralhund Villa Massacre, then she would’ve had to do all that instead of Reese. There was no way she thought she could’ve done anything close to what he had accomplished, so she was sort of glad she didn’t have to do any of it. She just wished she didn’t have to die to avoid it all.</p>
<p>After Reese had finished recounting the investigation and how he became a hero of Waterdeep, Kaz just smiled and told him how glad she was to have him back. She was happy and content that everything turned out all right in the end. Though, she did feel a bit guilty that she was the only one resurrected when others had died as well. As a result, she asked Reese not to tell Arthur that she was alive again to avoid an awkward reunion. Reese figured that was a good idea as well since he knew Arthur and he was already so emotionally unstable.</p>
<p>Since Reese had done a lot of talking, Kaz figured it was a perfect time to share something as well. Now that they were together again, she wanted to come clean and explain why she had broken up with him so many times before. She hoped they’d never have to go through something like that again and that they could remain together forever.</p>
<p>“Hey, Reese?” asked Kaz as she fidgeted in her seat.</p>
<p>“Yes?” asked Reese as he looked to her.</p>
<p>“Now that we’re finally back together, I think it’s about time I let you in on something,” said Kaz.</p>
<p>Reese was slightly worried as to what Kaz was going to say based on her tone and facial expression. He straightened up in his seat and gave her his undivided attention. “Sure. What is it, darling?” he asked.</p>
<p>Kaz was nervous at first to make eye contact with Reese, but she finally managed to gather her composure and do it as she began talking. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for how I treated you before, back when we’d date for a while… then I’d break up with you only to do it over again,” she said. Reese was about to speak but she stopped him by gesturing with her hand, not allowing him to interrupt her. “Please, just hear me out,” she said before he gave her a nod in acknowledgement and remained quiet.</p>
<p>Kaz let out a sigh then continued on, explaining everything about her headaches when she remained in her human form for too long. She assured him that the only reason she broke up with him was because of the side-effects caused by changing forms. She couldn’t take the pain it caused anymore and deal with the mental stress of living two lives. Thankfully, since she was no longer a member of the Guild and he accepted her true form, she didn’t have to worry about all that anymore. She could remain in her regular form and not concern herself with hiding her identity. After she was done, she exhaled loudly then allowed Reese to speak his mind.</p>
<p>After taking everything in, Reese felt better knowing the full picture and that Kaz was comfortable enough to tell him all that. He just gave her a smile and thanked her for sharing, saying that he’d prefer if she didn’t torture herself like that anymore. He told her he was completely fine and comfortable with her fox form and that there was no longer any need to be human for him; though, he did say that if she ever wanted to be human for a while, he was totally fine with it as long as she did so without harming herself.</p>
<p>“Now that we’ve gotten everything out in the open that we wanted to, what do you plan to do now?” asked Reese.</p>
<p>“What do you mean? Like, right at this moment or more long-term?” asked Kaz.</p>
<p>“Long-term. Where do you plan to live? What are you going to do for work? Stuff like that,” said Reese. “But I suppose you’ve got a lot on your mind already, so I guess we can come back to that tomorrow. Let’s just sort out where you’re going to be staying for tonight and worry about the rest later.”</p>
<p>Kaz thought about her situation for the moment then looked to Reese. “I kinda don’t want to go back to the tavern, especially after what you told me. There’s nothing left for me there- literally. You did all the hard work and moved all my stuff here already, so I guess this can be my new home. I mean, if that’s okay with you?” she asked.</p>
<p>Reese smiled and gave her a nod. “Of course it’s okay… that is, if you don’t mind sharing the bed,” he said while still smirking and looking to his bedroom.</p>
<p>Kaz turned in her chair to see where he was looking then looked back to him. “As long as there’s enough room for the both of us, I have no problem with it,” she said also with a smirk. She then yawned and stretched her arms into the air. “I am feeling a bit sleepy. Mind showing me this bed of yours?” she said, giving him a semi-sultry expression.</p>
<p>Reese caught the hint and promptly got up from the table. “But of course. Right this way…,” he said as he went around the table and led the way over to his bedroom.</p>
<p>Kaz got up from the table as well and followed after him, entering the bedroom along with him. There were some candles already lit inside which illuminated the room. Reese went over to the bed and stood by it, turning towards Kaz.</p>
<p>“After you,” said Reese as he motioned towards the bed.</p>
<p>Kaz gave him a smile and proceeded to get on the bed, lying down on her back while getting a feel for it. “Seems spacious enough,” she said as she looked up to Reese.</p>
<p>“Comfortable?” asked Reese as he sat down on the side of the bed next to Kaz, gazing longingly into her eyes.</p>
<p>“Very…,” said Kaz as she gazed back into Reese’s eyes.</p>
<p>Even though Reese had never been that close to Kaz in her fox form, her eyes were still the same ones he had always known. He reached out and caressed Kaz’s cheek with a smile, feeling the fur on her snout which was still a new sensation to him. He then leaned down closer to her and gave her a kiss, though, the anatomy of their faces made it awkward for him.</p>
<p>Kaz appreciated the kiss but immediately noticed that Reese was having a bit of difficulty with it. She commended his determination but she didn’t feel like starting over like it was their first time. She deeply missed her man and wanted things to go smoothly from the start, like it had when she was in her human form. Later, she’d get him more accustomed to her fox form, but that night wasn’t the time. Having enough of Reese’s awkward kissing, Kaz smiled and patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to stop. Reese opened his eyes and withdrew, wondering what the matter was.</p>
<p>“Is something wrong?” asked Reese as he stopped kissing her.</p>
<p>Kaz smiled and let out a sigh. “Hold on, one sec,” she said before changing into her human form right beneath him.</p>
<p>Reese looked on as Kaz the kitsune quickly changed to Caz the human right before his eyes. He almost choked up, not having seen Caz in her human form in so long, the memories of their time together flooding into his mind. “I thought I said you didn’t need to be human for me. You’re fine in your fox form,” he said.</p>
<p>Caz rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around Reese’s neck, bringing him in close for a kiss. “Just shut up and kiss me,” she said before locking lips with him.</p>
<p>Since Caz was in her human form, Reese had no problem getting back into the groove of things as he kissed her back, caressing her body with his hands. The two spent the night getting better acquainted with each other again then slept into the late hours of the next morning.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>#</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Over the next few months or so, Reese continued to work as a detective for the City Watch while Kaz tried to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Initially, she mostly stayed in Reese’s apartment during the day, only occasionally going out if she had to but wore a disguise when she did. She still wasn’t comfortable enough running into people she knew from before she died. She didn’t want to explain to each and every person she encountered how she came back from the dead, so she just avoided them until she was ready. Nearly the entire city knew about her involvement in the Gralhund Villa Massacre and how she had died there.</p>
<p>During the time they were still in Waterdeep, Reese eventually introduced Kaz to his parents. Kaz was nervous about meeting his parents but he reassured her that they’d be more than accepting of her into the family. She hardly knew anything about his family or background. All he ever told her was that he was from a good family and that was it. Eventually, Reese arranged a family dinner at his parents’ house and invited Kaz to join them.</p>
<p>When Reese and Kaz arrived at his family home, she was a bit intimidated. Since Reese was from a noble family, his parents lived in the Castle Ward which was in the nicer part of the city. Reese hid the fact that he was of noble birth so he didn’t scare Kaz away from attending the dinner. By the time she realized it, they were already at his parents’ doorstep. She was very nervous especially since she was in her fox form, but Reese reassured her that it was going to be okay and that she shouldn’t be worried about her appearance. Reese’s parents were happy to meet Kaz and tried to keep the atmosphere as welcoming as possible. After getting a chance to interact with his mother and father in a casual setting, she quickly became less tense and actually enjoyed herself during the dinner.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>#</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After spending a couple years still living in Waterdeep, Kaz didn’t feel comfortable being in the city anymore after all that had happened. Even though Reese was a hero of the city and well established amongst the community, she wanted a fresh start. While the city was somewhat safer thanks in part to his actions, there were still threats around and Reese was right in the middle of it all as a City Watch detective. The notoriety he gained due to his exploits put him in the crosshairs of all sorts of people and she didn’t like that. After talking things through with Reese, they decided to leave the city and start anew somewhere else.</p>
<p>Before leaving Waterdeep, Reese and Kaz consolidated their belongings in preparation for the move. They sold what possessions they no longer wanted and stored what they did want to keep with Reese’s parents. After finding a new place to settle down, they planned to come back for everything.</p>
<p>Once they left Waterdeep, Reese and Kaz wandered around the land looking for a new place to call home. They didn’t have anywhere in particular that they wanted to go, so they just came and went as they pleased. If Kaz didn’t like where they were currently at, they’d move on to the next place. Reese didn’t mind where they settled down as long as Kaz was happy with it. He wanted her to be as comfortable as possible with their new living arrangements.</p>
<p>It had been a month since Reese and Kaz left Waterdeep and they were once again on the road. They had just left their last potential new home and were on their way to scout the next possible location. Reese decided that aimlessly wandering around wasn’t the best idea, so before they left their last location, he chose their next destination and planned out their route to get there. Soon enough, they found themselves in the countryside, seeing golden fields of wheat and rolling hills.</p>
<p>“I hope this next place is a winner. I’m beginning to get tired of not having a place to call home,” said Kaz as she adjusted the straps of her backpack. “Are we still on the right path to get there?”</p>
<p>Reese pulled out the map from a pocket inside his coat and took a gander at it. “We are. It should be coming up shortly,” he said before folding the map back up and stowing it away.</p>
<p>“What’s this place called again?” asked Kaz.</p>
<p>“It’s called… what was it- oh! Right. It’s called the Kingdom of Gilderland,” said Reese.</p>
<p>“Do you know anything about it?” asked Kaz as she looked to Reese.</p>
<p>“Not really. Haven’t been this far away from Waterdeep before,” said Reese.</p>
<p>They continued down the road and came to the top of a hill that provided a great view of the surrounding landscape. As they reached the crest, they saw the capital in the distance with the royal castle towering over the surrounding structures. Reese and Kaz looked on, hopeful that the kingdom would prove to be everything they’d been looking for.</p>
<p>“Well, let’s not keep it waiting,” said Reese as he continued on down the hill. Kaz gave a hopeful smile and followed after him, feeling optimistic about their next destination.</p>
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